A Scarecrow in the Storm - Part 2
by NoBirdWithintheCage
Summary: Arashi is now a ninja, but to her dismay she's teamed with the two boys she hated the most as a child. To make matters worse, her sensei is none other than Morino Ibiki, sadist extraordinaire. Follow her story as she comes to terms with being a shinobi, the drama that is her squad, her complicated friendship with Itachi in which lines blur, and her struggle to become a Chuunin.
1. Chapter 1

**Genin**

This takes place roughly five years after the ending of part 1! Also, yes, I know the title lacks creativity, but blah! I was at odds with what I wanted to call part 2, but I know that I want 3 and 4 to continue under the same title, so this leg in her life retained "A Scarecrow in the Storm" by default. Sorry about this taking so long. For some reason I had terrible writer's block. At the very least it's a sizeable chapter. The next one should be out much quicker. :)

* * *

As a side note, I think I'll include the name of one or two of the songs that I listen to while writing every chapter.

At the end of this chapter I finished it while listening to the song "Lil Red Riding Hood" – I stumbled across it while bored and it's admittedly something I normally don't listen to. It's an older song and some of the covers are pleasant.

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** _In which Arashi meets her new team and gets man handled. Itachi is ravenously hungry and she's pretty sure they're only friends because he secretly finds her existence to be hilarious._

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**Genin**

To Arashi, becoming a ninja was just another step in life. For as long as she could remember she had been preparing herself for the day that she would don her hitai-ate and look upon her Genin squad for the first time. There was nothing she wanted more than to be a medical ninja skilled enough to mend the wounds of her comrades and guard the lives of anyone who carried the Will of Fire. Countless nights she stared at her ceiling in bed and wondered who her Sensei would be.

What she had not expected was to be thoroughly pissed off when the day finally came.

Aburame Akio sat on a stool to her left, hunched over like a gargoyle. Like most of his clan, he had an aversion to revealing his body. He wore a gray coat that extended down to his knees that also had a hood he kept pulled over his head. Underneath, he wore a shirt – or at least Arashi _hoped_ he was wearing a shirt – and lastly he covered his bottom half with a blue pair of pants. She was almost surprised that he wore standard sandals since they revealed some skin. Now that he was out of the Academy, he wore his hitai-ate on his forehead.

His face was contorted into a disgruntled scowl and despite his sunglasses; she knew he was glaring at her. She had a hunch that he was sending all of the bad vibes he could generate in her direction. The boy had never recovered from her rampage in the playground.

To her left was Kurama Daisuke on an identical stool. He examined his two teammates with a look of disappointment – _deep_-_rooted_, _resentful_ disappointment – before he sniffed in distaste and dropped any attempt to veil his disfavor. Ever since she planted the trap that made his paint explode he had been bitter. She never knew a guy would hold a grudge like Daisuke did. In nature, he was flamboyant, but one would not be able to tell from his choice of clothing. His arms were wrapped in bandages, his shirt was blue, and he wore a pair of tan shorts. He chose to tie his hitai-ate around his neck.

Arashi had grown somewhat in height since she was six, but not much else had changed for her. At age eleven she had not expected much, anyway. She wore a purple tank top, brown shorts, a pair of purple gloves, and brown boots that ended under her knees. Her long hair was kept out of her face by her hitai-ate. In response to her situation, she had her arms folded across her chest and her nose was held up in the air.

In front of them was their sensei. He was a tall man with tanned skin, and dark eyes. His face was marred by several scars. He wore a black trench coat, a gray button-up shirt, gloves, and a bandana-like cloth covered the top of his head.

They were in the interrogation ward and had been there for a while. All of the colors were washed out and even though she could sense people moving through the building like a hive, none had come down the hallway they were seated in. He had said nothing, not even his name. All he had done so far was lead them there and then watch them. There was something about the cold, calculating gaze that bothered Arashi and as time passed she realized that the rest of her team was unnerved by it, as well.

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose – her eyesight was a disappointment in her life – and checked the time. She frowned and regarded the man again. It was quiet in the room and every tick of the clock made her feel tenser.

It was like he was weighing their worth as students by just looking at them.

Arashi glanced to her left at Daisuke, to her right at Akio, and then forward at her sensei again. Daisuke would sit in silence until he was spoken to first, because that was just how he functioned when dealing with someone he did not know. Akio was a guy of few words. Short of his bullying stints, few had ever heard him speak more than necessary. The Jounin in front of them appeared to be content with silence.

Arashi, on the other hand, was not. Out of her entire graduating class, she was the most curious. She had a knack for sticking her nose into anything that interested her. Fortunately, her interests were few. Unfortunately, the tall, dark, and not-so-handsome man in front of her had managed to place himself on her interest list.

The man's black eyes settled on her and she held his stare. It was like he was taking her apart and piecing her back together, gauging her stare against his. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, but she knew if she backed down he would acknowledge it. If that happened, he would see it as a sign of weakness and she would rather bite her own finger off than let his first impression of her be that.

Arashi continued to watch him watch her and she focused on his chakra. She could not always decipher a person's emotions from the flow of their essence, but if she was close enough and she focused hard enough, then she could get impressions from a target. This man was pleased. It was not an overwhelming sensation, nor was it the type of pleased that was good, but the type that was tinged with something darker. Her throat tightened.

She was done with this man's silence.

She swallowed over the lump in her throat before she spoke, "Is there a reason why we're in the interrogation ward? Is this where you're usually active?"

The man exhaled a short laugh through his nose, "It's about time one of you started asking questions."

If it was possible, the three Academy graduates frowned deeper than they were before.

"Fresh out of the Academy, going along with a man that hasn't even mentioned his name like you don't have a care in the world. You think you have what it takes to be ninja?" His voice was deep and cold. "Being a shinobi is not just about knowing dangerous techniques, or being the fastest, or the most proficient in weapons. It's about asking the right questions, getting the right information, and holding onto that information in order to use it to its fullest power."

Arashi uncrossed her arms. Akio's attention shifted from her to their sensei.

"Well, if you want questions," Daisuke's amber eyes narrowed in amusement, "Should we exchange names, hobbies, aspirations, or," he leaned forward, "Are you going to stop playing with us and get this test going?"

_A name would be nice,_ Arashi thought to herself.

"We'll get to my test briefly. I'm a busy man, so I don't plan on dragging this out too long." He replied. "My name is Morino Ibiki. Now, tell me your name, your strength, and your greatest weakness."

The Genin remained quiet.

"Unless you want to go straight back to the Academy now, then you'll start answering." He pointed to Arashi, "You, first."

"My name is Ran Arashi, my strength is ninjutsu, my weakness is, well, uh," she bristled at the last word, "genjutsu."

Ibiki arched an eyebrow. She knew that he had read her file. All of her instructors had tried to push her toward it because of her intelligence and chakra control. Everything should have fit together in theory.

"I'm useless at creating illusions." She explained tensely. "Trust me. I just am."

He crossed his arms and nodded toward Daisuke, "Now, you."

"Kurama Daisuke. I'm a genjutsu type. Been that way my whole life. My weakness? Taijutsu, I guess, but I never planned on being one of those shinobi, honestly."

Ibiki regarded Akio, "Alright. The last one."

"Aburame Akio. My kikaichu and my family's techinques." He shrugged. "My pride."

"Very self-aware of you," Ibiki snorted. "Give me another weakness that isn't a character flaw."

_Another flaw? He didn't specify, so wouldn't that count? Why isn't he reciprocating with information, anyway? _She resisted the urge to chew on her lip.

Akio opened his mouth, but Arashi interrupted him, "Does he have to? He gave a weakness that could be way worse than lacking aptitude in a field. Why don't you give us one of your weaknesses and we'll give you another of ours?"

Ibiki took several steps toward her and leaned forward until she could feel his breath, "You want to know my weakness?"

"Uh, yes?" she clutched her seat.

He placed his hands on both of her shoulders. Her entire body tensed. She opened her mouth to protest, but before the words left her tongue he pushed her back, stool screeching across the floor, until her back came into contact with the wall. Akio and Daisuke jumped to their feet, but hesitated. From her peripheral vision she could see Daisuke's mouth opening and closing like he could not believe what was happening. Akio, on the other hand, had a smirk on his face that made her want to slap him.

"Others tried to figure out my weakness, as well." He released one of her shoulders and pulled the bandana off his head. "They never found it."

Arashi's stomach twisted itself into a knot. Not only did he have a couple deep scars on his face, but his scalp was a mass of scar tissue. There were holes drilled into his head that never fully healed, as well as burns, and cuts. It was so severe that hair no longer grew anywhere on his head. Her imagination danced around ideas and images of what the tortures must have been like, until it was hard for her to breathe.

_Did the burns come first or did they drill into his head as a first priority? Perhaps the burning was a method to cauterize some of the wounds?_ She was not sure, but she could not look away. All that existed was a dark room, shadows of people she did not know, voices that made her skin crawl, and acts of cruelty that went against everything in her nature.

"Hey! Let Shi-Shi-chan go!" Daisuke's voice was distant to her.

Drill. Cut. Burn. Drill. Cut. Burn. Drill. Cut. Burn.

_Shi-shi-chan?_ She wondered and tried to pull herself away from the trance she was in. _He hasn't called me that in years._

"You drop that genjutsu right now!" His amber eyes flashed in anger and he pulled a kunai from a pouch, "You heard me! She only asked a question!"

Daisuke lunged at their sensei. Ibiki's hand flew from her shoulder and covered both her mouth and nose. His other hand caught the boy's wrist and he twisted it behind the Genin's back without releasing Arashi. She started to grab one of her own kunai, but he slammed her head against the wall. It dazed her enough that she dropped the weapon and it clattered uselessly on the floor.

She could not breathe. Dots were forming in her vision and her senses were raging.

A droning buzz filled the air. Ibiki released Arashi, twisted Daisuke's other arm behind his back and turned to use him as a shield. The girl snatched her weapon off the ground and stepped behind Akio. The Aburame was covered in bugs and dozens had taken flight.

The only thing that kept the insects from going after the Jounin was the kunai that was pressed against Daisuke's throat.

Arashi felt the damage done to the back of her head with her right hand and frowned. She was bleeding and there was a sizeable knot, but that was the least of their problems. Their psychotic Sensei had one of them as a hostage.

She struggled to remain calm. Akio was tense, like a rubber-band stretched too thin and it was only a matter of time before he would snap. She had been in stressful situations before, but a person's life really was on the line on those occasions. Her father had taken her under his wing as an apprentice of sorts after Minato and Kushina had died. If working in a hospital and holding a person's life in her hands had taught her anything, it was to not panic. Panic meant failure and failure meant death.

_Besides,_ she thought, _He's playing this up, but he's not going to kill any of us. Right?_

She released a breath she did not realize she had been holding, "Let him go. Your movement is limited with a hostage and you're facing two opponents." She held her hand out and waved toward the swarm, "And if these get a hold of you, it's trouble. I mean, they might not be the nastiest stuff the Aburame have up their, uhh, _sleeves_, but they'll suck you dry."

"Make a move and he will die." Ibiki replied and pressed the blade against his neck until a dot of blood appeared.

"No, you won't kill him." Arashi was proud that her voice did not waiver. "You won't kill any of us."

As a show of how unconcerned she was, she focused her chakra to her hand until it glowed green and closed the gash on the back of her head. In reality her heart was drumming against her ribs so hard that it was hard for her to breathe.

"Look, I know you're using our weaknesses against us," Daisuke ground out through his teeth. "But, this test totally sucks. Either fail us or pass us already."

"If you fail then you will probably never become Genin. Making the cut is hard for anyone and I'm a particularly strict man." He replied. "What would you do then with your lives? A little girl who dreamed so long to become a kunoichi that she doesn't know anything else? A boy that direly wants to follow in his deceased father's footprints at any cost? A member of the Aburame clan that just couldn't cut it? If you don't make it today, you're as good as nothing."

Arashi watched a fit of raw emotion flicker across Daisuke's face, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance.

_Deceased?_ She remembered seeing his father walk him to the Academy when they were six. _When did he..?_

The bugs surrounding Akio began to fly around more erratically as his irritation flared.

"I have a proposition. How much do your aspirations mean to you? Do they mean more than one of the members of your newly formed team?" Ibiki continued.

For the second time that evening, Akio spoke, "What kind of proposition?"

"I'll take two of you as a student and the third I'll send back to the Academy. It's up to the three of you to decide who passes and who fails."

"No way!" Arashi huffed. "We are put into groups of three for a reason. To lose a teammate would defeat the purpose!"

"Well," Ibiki chuckled. "Seems like she's volunteering herself."

Her heart dislodged itself and fell into her stomach. Her chance at being a ninja was now riding on the mercies of two boys that hated her. The memory of tearing Akio's hair out flashed in front of her eyes, just as the sound of Daisuke screaming over his paint echoed in her ears. She would never forget how effeminate it sounded, nor would she forget Kakashi's hand wrapped around her own after the ordeal.

_Kakashi._ She had not spoken to him in five years. The thought made her sad.

Arashi blinked and disregarded her momentary melancholy. The truth was that she was _screwed._

Daisuke exchanged a look with Akio. It was like they were coming to a joint decision in those seconds. Arashi's heart dislodged itself from her stomach and fell to her knee. These guys had no reason to want her on their team – not that they cared for each other, either, but at least they had no old grudges between them – whereas she had went out of her way to snub them. She was going to be a useful medic ninja, feared and loved by all someday, after all. Now it was seemingly up to them whether or not she even was going to make Genin.

The irony made her want to swallow her own tongue.

"Um, nah." Daisuke finally decided. "She might be a spoiled, girly, snobbish twat, but no."

Arashi glared at him.

"Member swaps are up to Hokage-sama." Akio murmured. "I'd take anyone else, but this is what I'm assigned to."

Arashi glared at both of her teammates, "I'm not exactly enthused about being with you guys, either."

"Well," he smirked, "I'm almost surprised to see the three of you sticking up for each other. From the way you were acting I thought you'd happily throw each other to the wolves. Despite your own agendas, you choose to stay together and support each other? Those are values I respect."

Ibiki laughed and an expression of amusement lit up his face. That was something Arashi did not think was possible. He released Daisuke and shoved him toward his teammates. She pulled him behind Akio where she dabbed the blood away from his neck and mended the wound, even though she wanted to let him bleed for a while because of his comments.

"Alright, sit back down." The Jounin ordered.

The three Academy graduates grabbed the stools and sat, but this time they were closer to each other and their general aura of distaste was now directed at the man in front of them. Ibiki returned his bandana to its place and leaned against the wall. An amused smirk was still on his lips as he looked at the disgruntled children.

His eyes settled on Daisuke, "The genjutsu user was the first to attack, but he used a _kunai_ at close range instead of opting for a long ranged attack? All for your _Shi-Shi-chan_?"

"It wasn't right for you to man handle her." The boy sniffed and looked away.

"Because Arashi's a girl? You know in this world that gender means nothing. Men, women, the old, or the young; none of it matters. We fight, we die."

"Look, I don't give a snot about chicks from different countries. They can take a dive off a cliff for all I care, but I get worked up when I see someone abuse a girl from my village, alright? Am I not supposed to care about these people? I mean, I'm probably gonna die for them."

Ibiki snorted, "Well, then, how about your aspirations."

"I want to serve this place." He shrugged. "Like my parents."

"A patriot, then?" Ibiki's eyes shifted over to Akio, "What about you? What exactly is your aspiration?"

"To make my family proud and to have a purpose, Sensei," Akio replied.

"And you, girl, what is your reason?"

She frowned, "Bu-"

"If you try to bargain with me, I'll knock your head against the wall again."

She leaned back and her fingers tightened around the kunai she had yet to put away, "Uh, err, I want to help people in any way I can."

He went back to watching them. Any and every movement they made was noted. Arashi started to chew on her lip, but stopped when she realized what she was doing. Fidgeting in front of this man was hard to not do. Daisuke's hand twitched – it usually did when he wanted to draw or paint. It was a coping mechanism for him. Akio was once again perched like a gargoyle and seemed impassive.

After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke, "I suppose I'll take you all on, but remember, from this day on you're no longer who you were. You're soldiers now and your lives belong to this hidden village." He walked over to a door and opened it, "Now, I'd like to show you a little of what I do. I'm a very busy man and I'd like you to understand what it is that takes up so much of my time."

"But, wait, what kind of test was that?" Daisuke jumped off his stool. "I mean, you roughed us up a little and asked us a couple questions."

For fear of having her head bashed against a wall, Arashi opted to remain quiet.

"Unlike the other Sensei, I don't need elaborate tests to get inside the heads of children." He explained. "While most take their students to a training ground and have a sparring match with them, I hardly think that is a suitable test. If you weren't physically capable, then you would not have made it out of the Academy. Now, shut up, and come on."

When he stepped inside, the three Genin looked at each other and sneered.

Daisuke's eyes settled on the kunai in Arashi's hand, "Aww! Shi-Shi-chan, it's touching that you were ready to help me out, but that blade doesn't look blunted and we all know that if your mommy hadn't insisted, then you'd have no fingers by now."

She opened her mouth to protest with something along the lines of not being inept, but nothing suitable came to mind. Perhaps it was the stress of dealing with Ibiki, but she felt like she was in a mental fog. She crossed her arms, huffed, and looked away instead.

Akio snickered and followed after their sensei. Arashi wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Her heart fell from her knee and stopped at her ankle. She had passed, but now she was on a team with her two least favorite people.

_So. Not. Fair._

* * *

When Ibiki dismissed their team, she could not get away fast enough. It turned out that her Sensei was head of the ANBU's interrogation squad, which entailed torture. For the past hour he went through a plethora of tools – things that she wanted nowhere near her body in any way – and referred to them as child's play.

_Child's play,_ she huffed. _Such a freak._

A crow flew by her face and landed on a clothes line above her head. She tilted her head back and grinned. It cocked its head to the side and looked down at her. Although many people viewed crows as being a bad omen or as an unclean bird, she liked them. When she thought of them, she always thought of what she read about their family system. They mated for life and often times their offspring would stay around and help rear the next batch of chicks. Crows were intelligent, loyal, misunderstood and she liked them.

Most of all, the sight of one made her think of onigiri and juice.

It ruffled its feathers and cawed at her several times before it took flight and circled her. The street she was on was mostly empty, but the few people that were passing by gave the girl and the bird an odd look. Even though it looked strange, it was not out of the ordinary to see birds of all sorts in Konoha and they were often delivering messages.

"Alright, alright, I get it." She murmured. "I'll follow you. Now go on."

The crow led her to a traditional café and parted paths with her. Near the entrance stood Arashi's oldest friend, watching her with a curve to his lips. He had grown somewhat in height, and his expressive eyes had taken on a more passive set. The tear duct lines beside his nose had deepened and elongated an inch or so, but at the age of ten he was still youthful and appeared far too young to be a chuunin. His black hair was tied back and he was wearing casual attire that many members of the Uchiha clan wore.

Arashi never quite understood their obsession with off the wall collars on their shirts – they looked awful to her – but it made it easier to spot an Uchiha, so she figured that was likely one of the reasons behind it. They were a proud clan, after all.

"Arashi-chan." He greeted.

"Itachi-kun, you never eat dinner at home, do you?"

* * *

"The Hokage has gone senile."

Itachi arched an eyebrow and swallowed his food, "He seemed well earlier today."

"Trust me. It's official. He's lost it."

"Oh?"

"He teamed me with Akio and Daisuke." She rested her face in her hands and groaned. "I mean, really!"

"Ahh," he breathed, "I see. The boys you attacked after we met."

"_Attacked?_ Please!" She lifted her head and glowered at him. "Little, manipulative, five year old you totally put me up to it. Besides, they deserved more than what they got."

"Is that so?" His other eyebrow rose next to the other one. "I'm a pacifist."

"Mhm. Be that way, Uchiha-san." She huffed. "I just don't know how this is going to work out. Our teacher in the Academy made sure we never worked together during anything because of how much we hated each other."

Itachi hummed in acknowledgement while chewing on some cabbage.

"To beat it all, our new Sensei bashed my head against the wall and smothered me. I think he passed us just because he liked how miserable we were together."

"In time your squad will find its niche." He replied before taking another bite.

"You're starving aren't you?"

He swallowed the mouthful of rice without chewing, "Sorry. I spent most of today training."

"So," she picked at her own food, "You're going to go through with enrolling with ANBU?"

"Yes."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"It would please my father and it would help strengthen bonds between my clan and Konoha." He replied, matter-of-factly.

"I see." She frowned. "It's what your dad wants."

"I don't mind." He grinned. "You have nothing to worry about."

"As long as you're happy."

They lapsed into silence. Arashi picked at her food, but her appetite was off on an adventure somewhere else. Itachi, on the other hand, was working through his food like he had not eaten in days, but he still managed to seem refined and disciplined as he did so. He seemed much older than his age, even to her. When she looked at him, she saw the next head of the Uchiha clan. She never could keep up with him, no matter how hard she tried. He really was the type of prodigy that only comes around once every generation.

She knew his father spent much of his time grooming him into a shinobi and a future leader. The sheer amount of responsibility that was pushed at the boy made her uncomfortable. Her parents were loving to say the least, sometimes to a fault. Every time she met Fugaku he was stern and distant. It gave her the impression that it was a cold household, but she tried to counter that thought. Mikoto was a warm person, even if she was quiet. That was likely where Itachi got his caring streak from.

She sighed.

Despite everything, her friend was concerned about his clan and Konoha, whereas she was whining about her team. When she compared herself to this boy, she felt very selfish.

_No reason I ended up on such a screwed up team. Akio always got whatever he wanted by being a bully, Daisuke would lie and act all charming, and here I am totally selfish and—_

"Wait a second!" Her eyes widened and she sat straight up, "We're assigned to Ibiki because the Hokage and our teachers thought we were all selfish, manipulative _brats_!"

Itachi looked at her over his cup of tea and swallowed.

"We were so bad in the Academy that they put us under someone that tortures people." Her face was pale. "Like, did they think no one else would take us on as students? Or is this their way of getting back at us?"

Itachi put his cup down and laughed to himself, quietly. He turned his face to the side, but she could see one of his eyes still locked on her. He was laughing at her.

"Oh, I get it. Go on. Laugh at me." She huffed. "That's probably the only reason you still talk to me, huh? Entertainment!"

Any annoyance that she might have felt before was ushered out. Even though she had been friends with him for years, out-right laughter from him was something she had only heard a handful of times before. All of those times his laughter was directed at her, as well. It made his signature blaze and in seconds she was back to digging at her food. She was friends with a gentle flame that was very special. There was no doubt in her mind that he would go on to do amazing things in his life. Being near him helped her look at things more logically and that made her happy.

Once Itachi was finished with his meal, he stood, "I've already paid for everything."

"What? Oh, seriously, you shouldn't have."

He reached across the table and flicked her nose.

She jerked back and covered the stinging area, "I _hate_ it when you do that!"

"Congratulations on becoming a Genin, Arashi-chan." He smiled.

"Thanks." She rubbed her nose. "For the food and everything, too."

"You should go home and let your family know. They'll be happy for you and I'm sure they want to know how everything went."

"Yeah," she winked at him, "And I'm sure Sasuke wants to badger you about playing and training, huh?"

"He's a good little brother."

With that, he left.

_Well, tomorrow I go on my first mission. Crazy._

* * *

Alright, that's chapter one. Thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts, opinions, suggestions, or criticisms be sure to share them in a review. I love all forms of input!

Next chapter will be her first mission and an encounter with young Naruto. :)


	2. An Old Client and a Young Uzumaki

**Chapter 2: An Old Client and a Young Uzumaki**

**Chapter Summary:** _In which Arashi goes on her first mission and is given a unique weapon to wield until the task is done. Later, she comes face to face with none other than Uzumaki Naruto._

* * *

Songs: Oingo Boingo – No One Lives Forever. Regina Spektor – Blue Lips

**DarkNexus4050:** I would just like to say that you are lovely and I appreciate your support! 3

I apologize for the first half of this chapter. It feels terribly like filler and I did not enjoy writing it, but I wanted to show her first mission since it felt like a landmark. D Ranked missions will not be written in detail from now on. That would be just awful.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Arashi glared, blearily, at her alarm as it blared at her from across the room.

"Arashi-chan, sweetie, it's time for you to get up! Your first mission is today!" Naomi's sing-song voice called through the closed door.

"Trust me, mom, I know!" Arashi grumbled.

"Breakfast will be ready after you're dressed."

The kunoichi untangled herself from her blanket and sheet and shuffled to her closet. Her room was sizeable compared to most living spaces in Konoha. Her parents were wealthy after years of dedicated working and had purchased a large home in hopes of having a big family. To their dismay, they struggled to have children and thus they adopted Arashi. They promptly spoiled her and gave her the second nicest room in the house.

There was a bookshelf packed full of books, scrolls, and documents beside her door, a bed, a floor length mirror in the corner, a chest of drawers, and two nightstands. There was a walk-in closet and beside the mirror was a door that led into her personal bathroom.

She turned her alarm off, got dressed, applied some lotion to her face as well as a gloss to her lips, and stared at her room. The amalgamation of yellows, greens, and purples did nothing to jog her memory, so she closed her eyes and tried to think.

_What should I pack for my first mission?_

She strapped on a medical pouch, a kunai pouch, and she pulled a dusty shuriken holster from underneath her bed to strap on. Arashi was not overly fond of using weapons, which had vexed every instructor at the Academy until they saw red, but it was the truth. She knew how to use them, but she was not particularly skilled.

Daisuke's comment about blunted blades being the only reason she still had fingers was probably true.

Arashi pushed her glasses up her nose and made her bed before she left the room. She was not a morning person, but there was no escaping it until she was probably a Chuunin at least. She closed the door behind her and turned down the hall and ambled toward the staircase. She could hear her family bantering downstairs and a pang of fondness brought a more cheerful bounce to her step.

She skipped the last two stairs and headed directly to the kitchen. Her mother was already washing dishes while her father looked over a scroll. She opened her mouth to greet her family, but a ball of brown hair and energy rammed into her.

"_Kazika!"_ She squealed, but managed to regain her balance.

"Sis! Sis!" He chanted. "Ninja! Ninja! I wanna be a ninja!"

Kazika was her brother. He was three years old. When her mother announced her surprise pregnancy, Arashi had been furious. The girl had begged relentlessly for her parents to adopt Naruto, but her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. She later realized that Kushina and Minato's son had been placed in a foster home for close watching in order to protect him from anyone making a rash decision because of the Kyuubi, but at the time she was blinded by outrage. In fact, she had been such a brat that her mother broke down in tears.

_"__What happened to my angel?"_ Her mother had wept. _"You were so good for Kushina when she was pregnant!"_

It was a sobering experience for Arashi. There were no more tantrums from the girl. Instead, she went out of her way to be more thoughtful.

"You're too young to be a ninja, Kazika." She dragged the boy back to his seat at the table.

Ookami stood and embraced his daughter, "My little kunoichi. Growing up on me."

"This is just the first step, Dad." She hugged him back.

"Oh, I know, but try not to grow up too fast." He pulled back and held her by the shoulders. "Also, I expect to still see you at the hospital, even if it's not as often. Being a medical ninja takes dedication and as you grow with skill, I'll be able to show you some tricks that will save lives, alright?"

"Oh, daddy," She beamed, "I'm always going to be your second shadow."

Ookami's chest swelled with pride. Naomi chuckled to herself. That man had been wrapped around her finger since the day he met her.

"Eat some breakfast before your mission!" Her mother called over her shoulder. "What would your team think of you if you fainted from low sugar or something? Mhm, you'd be the joke of the team, now wouldn't you?"

The middle aged woman turned to set her eyes on the Genin. Her lips pursed and her eyebrows knit together. Arashi knew that expression all too well. It was the one her mother got when she had a _feeling_ that something was going to happen. While most mothers were paranoid about many things, Naomi rarely fussed over anything, but when she did it was uncanny. Naomi did not have worries, she had premonitions.

At least, that was what her family and friends decided.

Arashi snatched up a piece of toast and chewed on it, even though she was not hungry that morning. Her mother would sooner follow her through the streets and nag her to eat than let her go without breakfast. It was endearing and annoying at the same time.

"Look! Sis! Look! Look!" Kazika chirped.

She looked down to see the boy blowing snot bubbles in her direction. He was a spitting image of his father, but in smaller proportions. Some people would have found it hilarious to see Ookami, disciplined and reserved, as he watched his son make snot bubbles – especially when he continued to scan the scroll as the bubbles burst in audible pops.

Pop, pop. Pop, pop.

"Just eww, Kazika. Don't do that." She cringed and walked out of the kitchen, but the child followed her popping all the way. "Time and a place, kid, and for this stuff it's nowhere and never."

Pop, pop, pop.

"Stop following me," she hissed.

Pop, pop, pop.

"Seriously, just stop or I'll sit on you."

Their eyes narrowed and they stared each other down. Her hands twitched in anticipation.

Pop.

She grabbed a tissue and pinned him to the ground in a rush of movement.

"_Mommy!_" the boy shrieked.

She smothered his pleas for help and wiped the snot off his face. He tried to fight, but she was done before he could get loose. With a look of disgust she stood and disposed of the tissue. She had spent enough time working in the village's hospital to desensitize herself to bodily fluids mostly, but that did not mean she would ever not hate it.

"Well, I'm going, love you all!" She called and ran out.

* * *

Arashi watched the wind tease at Ibiki's trench coat. He marched ahead of her with his lips set into a serious line. Then again, he appeared to be serious in nature, so she decided that was normal for him. To her right was Akio and to her left was Daisuke. She was not sure why they chose to walk that way. She would have preferred if they kept a little more distance from her, but there was a pulse of comfort from their presence despite her distaste for them. This was new to her, as it was to them.

"We are going to treat every mission like it is top priority." Ibiki broke the squad's silence. "Every group has their share of D rank missions to work through. Most kids don't see them for what they can be, but I won't have a single one of you be as inept at taking advantage of opportunities."

"Yes, Sensei." Arashi and Daisuke chorused together.

Akio grunted and nodded.

Arashi knew that D ranked missions were chores and not much else. Her parents sometimes hired Genin squads to do housecleaning or to help around her mother's business during busy months. The elderly used Genin for all sorts of grunt work. Now it was her squad's turn for the dreaded grind.

"Sensei, what are we doing first today?" She mustered the nerve to ask – looking from him to a wall nearby and back.

"Helping an elderly woman with her garden and a few chores." He replied. "And I'd better not see any slacking. Work together, don't fight, and don't mess anything up."

Daisuke snorted and asked, "What's the old broad's name?"

"Chiharo."

"Anything important we should know about her?" The boy pressed, but his tone had a sickeningly sweet undercurrent. "I should be asking, right? _Top priority_? This is a learning exercise, after all."

"Retired Jounin. Loves her cats and her plants more than she cares for people. Apparently someone's been vandalizing her property."

"Alright. So, is she going to direct us once we arrive?" Arashi piped up.

"When she tells you to jump," Ibiki's tone betrayed the smirk on his face. "Just do it."

"What if we don't jump high _enough_?" Arashi asked, unable to resist. "How will I know how high to jump?"

"Sounds like we need to review how to handle high stress situations! All of our Academy training has prepared us for this!" Daisuke joined in.

"I see." Ibiki chuckled, "After this I might take you back to the interrogation ward and show you what it's like to have some of those tools used on your body. I thought I'd hold it off until you were more experienced, but perhaps not."

Their mouths snapped shut.

* * *

Their destination was on the outskirts of the village. A small house stood away from the others with an impressive garden surrounding it. An old woman sat outside on a bench in front of a pond, throwing food to the mouths of gaping fish. An orange cat sat by her left and a black cat sat by her right.

Ibiki stopped by the pond and his squad gathered behind him. She peered up at them and harrumphed. Her face was lined with wrinkles and her dark eyes spoke of a lifetime of trials. She looked to be around sixty years of age. She wore a long dress, an apron, and dirt encrusted gloves. The cats were both unimpressed by the ninjas in front of them, so they continued to watch the fish.

"Team Ibiki reporting."

"About time." The woman stood. "I've got something for your cute little kids to do."

The man nodded and she led them to another part of her garden. Various patches of herbs had been destroyed and garbage was scattered around.

"Some little brat keeps messing with my garden." She pointed at the damage. "I've confronted him, but my hip isn't what it used to be and he manages to get away every time."

Wordlessly, Akio began to gather the trash together. Daisuke shifted from one foot to the other and joined him. Ibiki crossed his arms and looked around at the scene.

"Why would he do something like this?" Arashi mumbled.

"Because he's a git with no brains." The woman seethed. "And I want you kids to track him down and rough him up a bit. Let him know Granny Chiharo means business."

"Uh, how old is he?" Her eyebrows rose in disbelief. "Are we going to have the Police Force on us?"

If there was a chance – even if it was slim – that she would be facing down with Uchiha Fugaku then Arashi would have thrown her hands up and walked away. Itachi was her friend, Mikoto was sweet, Sasuke was a cute boy, but Fugaku was another case. She did not dislike him, but she was put off by him for a few different reasons. She respected him for saving her life when she was six and for the work his squad performed daily in Konoha, but she had the distinct feeling he did not like her. At all.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, sweetie." Chiharo waved her off. "I don't want you to hurt him. Just scuff him up a bit. If he doesn't learn from that, then I'll hire Chuunin. If the message doesn't get through his skull after that, then I'll just put a hit out on him."

All three Genin stared at her.

"Oh, don't look at me that way. You kids have a ways to go! Why, back in my day you'd have already been seasoned killers."

Daisuke and Akio looked toward Ibiki for some form of reassurance but found none.

"The boy's name is Kyo. He's about fifteen, I think." She walked over to the side of her house and snatched up a broom before returning. "I want you to do a good job for me, alright sweetie? Keep them boys in line, that's a kunoichi's special responsibility. Boys take a while to acclimate, so you gotta keep them on their toes, alright?"

If Arashi's eyebrows rose any higher they would have ripped off her face.

"Oh, and I want you to hit him with this." She handed the broom to Arashi.

"Um, what?"

"Now, you hit him real good, alright? If he doesn't get it then I'll have to have him cut into pieces to feed to my fish."

* * *

Once the squad was away from Chiharo's house, the Genin stared at each other in shock.

Ibiki set an eye on them and they went still, "We're going to make sure that kid doesn't set food on her property again."

Akio cleared his throat, "We're going to kill him?"

Arashi and Daisuke fidgeted.

"I look forward to when your brains are done developing." He spoke dryly, "Come here and I'll tell you my plan."

* * *

Arashi followed Akio from rooftop to rooftop. Daisuke was close behind her, but his attention was preoccupied with the sketch book braced in his left arm. He glanced up to make sure he was on course as he added the last touches to his project. She could hardly imagine doing genjutsu normally, but Daisuke used his paintings and drawings as a medium and that was beyond her. Ibiki was right beside the kunoichi. His presence made her anxious, but she tried to not show it. She felt awkward enough as it was.

In her hand was the broom.

"Do I really have to hit this person with her broom, Sensei?" Arashi whispered.

"It's what our client wants." He replied and an amused smirk pulled at his lips. "Her mind has slipped in recent years."

She sighed in defeat.

Akio motioned for them to be quiet and they came to a stop on top of a building. He dropped into a crouch and pointed to the alley beside them. The insects they had been following returned to his hand and crept inside his sleeve.

Ibiki motioned for everyone to move into position.

Their target, Kyo, kicked a can between the two buildings. He was a civilian without a job and nothing better to do with his time that day. With a sigh he turned to walk out of the alley, but came face to face with Akio.

"Stop messing with Chiharo's garden." He pulled his sunglasses off and bugs swarmed out of the sockets and across his eyes.

The fifteen year old paled and turned to run – there were not many civilians that had the stomach to deal with the Aburame – but he did not get far. Daisuke dropped down and cut off his escape. He held up the sketch and quickly performed several hand-seals. Kyo's eyes widened and his course changed drastically. He tripped and staggered a time or two, but the amber eyed boy let him pass by him without any more resistance.

His attempted escape led him to Arashi.

She frowned. She could feel that his chakra was over-ridden by Daisuke's genjutsu and that only made her feel worse for what she was about to do. Despite being older than her, she knew he could not defend himself against her even if he was in his right mind.

"_Arashi_!" Ibiki's called down at her, his tone enough to scold her.

She blinked and swung the broom with all of her might.

A crack resounded through the alley and the wooden shaft splintered apart. The force knocked the boy on his back and broke him out of the illusions plaguing him. His eyes opened and closed and he jerked his head around to look at the shinobi standing around him.

"Aw. You broke the broom. I was just thinking you looked all lovely and domestic." Daisuke leaned forward and teased.

Akio laughed. It was high pitched and broken by several snorts. Arashi might have found this funny if it was not at her expense.

"I hate both of you."

Ibiki looked down at the boy and deadpanned, "Good job. I'll stay and have a chat with our vandal while you report to Chiharo." His eyes settled on the broom and he sighed, "You've broken her favorite broom, though, and with how unstable she's been…"

_She's going to feed me to her fish over a broom._

Their return to the house was quiet. Arashi held the broken broom in her hands and resisted the urge to chew on her lips. If she could not manage to break that habit, then she would not have any left by the time she was a Chuunin.

When Chiharo came into sight, the girl's throat tightened. It was like she was a six year old girl that just broke someone's heirloom. She turned to walk away, but her retreat was foiled.

Akio and Daisuke shoved her forward and she came face to face with the psychotic, senile client.

"I, uhh, I didn't mean to break it." She thrust the two pieces toward Chiharo. "I hit him real good!"

The old woman cackled until she had to bend over and brace her sides.

* * *

To Arashi's horror, the rest of the missions were somehow worse. They walked dogs, cleaned houses, picked up trash in the streets, got groceries as two different missions, and ended it all with a quick run down from Ibiki. They were to meet again the next day for personal training with him before they did a couple more missions.

In all honesty she would rather be on his bad side in an interrogation than do any more missions like the ones they just finished.

_These missions don't even pay well,_ she whined internally.

She cut through a copse of trees and took a deep breath. At the very least she had the rest of the evening and part of the morning to prepare herself mentally for the tedious onslaught. If someone had told her as a new Academy student that she would be dreading "ninja work" this way, then she would have called them a liar.

_Some important medic ninja I am._ She scoffed to herself. _Seriously what kind of-_

She was jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of children yelling. Her thoughts jumped to the worst, but she wheeled them in and ran toward the source. When she got there she saw something that she would never forget.

There were four boys standing around a smaller child. Their ages ranged from approximately six to eight. They all kicked him relentlessly while he shielded his face, but she knew who it was. She would never be unable to recognize this child. She had memorized his signature when he was still in his mother's womb. It was like the wind on a sunny day, but layered deep within was a darkness that scared her if she focused on it.

It was Naruto.

_"You know you'll have to help me look after him when he gets a bit older."_

The fatigue from her busy day was forgotten. She put one foot in front of the other and began to run.

_"Just like a big sister?"_

She pushed one of the boys down and threw another one by his shirt. He landed in a heap on the ground and wailed out in shock. The two younger boys took a step back and stared in disbelief.

_"Just like a big sister."_

The kids scattered and ran.

"Don't you ever touch him again or I'll kill you_, y'know_!" Arashi screeched.

Naruto uncovered his face and stared up at her. At first there was fear in his eyes and then confusion. She went to her knees beside him and he flinched away.

"Shh, Naruto-kun." She whispered in a shaky voice. "Le-let me see you. Did they hurt you?"

His face scrunched up in an expression of distrust.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you." Arashi assured him and held her hands out. "I'll show you a cool trick my dad taught me to help people."

"A cool trick?" He repeated.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool. Want to see it?"

"Yeah!" He stood and clenched his fists.

"Hold your arms out and let me see."

The boy did as he was told. There were several cuts and bruises covering the limbs, but nothing was severe. For that, she was grateful. What she did not like was how small the boy was. Kazika was not much smaller, but Naruto was two years older than her brother.

"What about the trick?" The boy vibrated with interest.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, Naruto-kun." She laughed, but it was hollow.

She focused her chakra to her hands and mended the injuries on his arms. The boy's mouth fell open and he watched the process with a profound interest that made her feel like she was a legendary sage.

"Whoa! How did you do that?"

"I'm a ninja." She grinned. "It took me years for my dad to teach me that, though. It was hard to learn."

"Will you teach me?" He asked, bright eyed. "I want to be a ninja, too, you know!"

She blinked and pinched his cheek, "Maybe when you're out of the Academy, huh?"

"Really?"

"If you want, Naruto-kun." She stood and captured his hand in her own. "Now, let's get you home before it's dark."

His expression fell as the words left her mouth, "Oh."

"What's wrong? Show me where you live and we can talk on the way."

He tugged her to a walk. She could not get over how much like Minato the boy looked. It was like he was a miniature clone and it tugged at her heart strings in the most bittersweet ways. They walked for a while in silence. He led her to an apartment complex and they stepped inside.

"Will you leave? Or will you play with me for a while?"

"I guess I'll play with you for a bit." She replied. "I'm really tired, though."

He brightened. "Can we play ninja?"

"Sure. Just so long as you don't run me around too much."

"Okay! I just don't want to be alone."

Her grip on his hand loosened, "Why would you be alone? Are your guardians going to be busy tonight or something? Why wouldn't they have someone to take care of you?"

The boy looked at her like he was lost, "They told me I couldn't live with them anymore."

"What?" Her voice cracked.

Naruto's eyes were bright with tears, "It's okay. I'm a big boy and I'm really strong."

It sounded like he was trying to convince himself of it. Arashi had a hard time believing that she heard him correctly, but she knew she did – even if she wanted with everything in her to be wrong.

"My apartment's right here." The boy announced and unlocked the door.

When she stepped inside she cringed. The sink was full of dirty dishes, the bed was unmade – in fact she did not even see a sheet – and there was trash overflowing from the trash can and occupying floor space. Naruto was a five year old child and his guardians had abandoned him to fend for himself.

Arashi wanted to cry.

"It's a bit messy," he scratched his cheek.

"I can see." She tried to sound cheerful.

That the Fourth Hokage and Kushina's son was abandoned and treated like trash was enough to make her want to scream.

"What's your name, big sis?"

"You don't know? I've sent pictures of me and my family with your birthday gifts. Did they never tell you my name?"

He tilted his head to one side and stared at her in confusion.

"Did you," she swallowed over a lump in her throat. "Did they ever give you the gifts I sent for you?"

He shook his head, "No?"

She felt like someone kicked her in the teeth.

"Oh. I-I sent presents for you. A lot." Tears brimmed her eyes, "My name's Ran Arashi."

"Arashi? How do you know my name?"

"I met you when you were too little to remember me. A long time ago." She looked away from him. "You've grown a lot since then. You're a – you're a big boy now compared to then."

"Are you going to hurt me?"

She was mortified, "I would _never_ hurt you."

He stared at her for a while like he was trying to discern whether or not she was telling the truth, "Really?"

"Really. I'd sooner die."

"Can I call you Sis?"

"I'd re-really like that." She whispered.

He grinned from one ear to the other – just like Kushina, "I've always wanted a big sister!"

She went to her knees and hugged him, "You have one now."

"Oh!" He gasped. "Now we can play together all the time!"

She let go of him and stood, "Not all the time, but I'll be sure to spend time with you when I can, alright?"

"You promise?"

"I promise." She looked around. "Now, let's play ninja and get this place cleaned up a bit."

It was easier to get Naruto involved in cleaning than she thought it would be. The child was starved for attention in such a way it made her body ache. He ran from one side of the apartment to the other and his laughter echoed off the walls with enough vitality to help her forget how tired she was. There was something about that boy that made her feel hopeful. She figured it was something to do with who his parents were.

_Now, to see if he has any clothes._ She hummed to herself. _The ones he's wearing right now are filthy._

She dug through his clothes and huffed in disgust. Everything appeared too small or much too big for his body. She made a few calculations in her head and glanced over at the boy as he tried to reach the dishes in the sink, but failed.

"Naruto-kun, would you like to go shopping for clothes with me soon?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, it's a date." She pulled out a set of pajamas, "Now, get in the shower and into these when you're done."

The boy nodded and ran to the bathroom.

_He's so happy to just have me here._

As soon as she heard the shower turn on, she collapsed on the floor and wept. If she was an adult, she would take him on as her own child in a heartbeat. She hated his guardians with everything in her. If she ever saw them again, she doubted she could restrain herself from taking a swing at them. The next day she was going to go straight to the Hokage and confront him about this.

_I can't just not do anything,_ She wiped tears away from her face. _He deserves so much better. If not for his parents, then for him._

The moment his parents sealed the demon inside him and died he had been cursed to a life of loneliness and solitude. For five years she believed he was cared for and nurtured like any child should be, but the reality of the situation was the opposite.

_"I'll pw-protect you, teach you, and help you with everything."_

From now on she would.

She pulled herself to her feet and went over to the sink to finish the dishes. Naruto was still too short to reach high enough to take care of them without something to stand on. Her plate was already full between working with Ibiki Sensei and her father's insistence that she continue shadowing at the hospital, but she would make a way to take care of this boy.

Naruto was in severe need of food that was not ramen and some clothes that were not orange. At the very least, she could do that, even if she could not give him all the time she wanted to.

* * *

Alright that's all for now. I actually hate this chapter and I feel like I should apologize. Haha Anyway, the next one will definitely be better. There might be some shopping with young Naruto mixed in with Arashi visiting Itachi at the Uchiha compound and getting pulled into a stare down with Fugaku – who definitely does not like her. I have to admit to liking the interactions between Arashi and the Uchiha clan so far from what I've messed with.

Anyhoo, share your thoughts, opinions, ideas, or suggestions in a review. I'd like to see what everything thinks of her team so far. Also, I'm considering shortening the chapters and just updating more often. More updates or longer chapters? I'm still undecided.

Thank you very much for reading and try to look over any grammatical mistakes that may have snaked their way in.


	3. Thoughtfulness

**Chapter 3: Thoughtfulness**

**Chapter Summary:** _In which Itachi visits Arashi in the night and a couple birthdays are highlighted. Sparks fly, fluff fluffs, and a cute boy gets jealous._

* * *

Songs: Dead Can Dance – Rakim. Naruto Shippuden OST – Konoha Peace. (I think I might listen to an odd assortment when writing)

* * *

Sorry about this taking a bit longer. I'm not sure how well this chapter flows since I've broken it up like I did for part 1, but I am trying to show _highlights_ of her life still. That requires skipping chunks of unnecessary time. Next part will drop that and it won't jump around as much. I'm trying to skip the tediousness of training and basic missions, but blahh.

**DarkNexus4050: **I love your reviews. :)

* * *

**A Visit in the Night**

Arashi stared up at her ceiling. It had been months since she started paying visits to Naruto. After a meeting with the Hokage decent food was now appearing in Naruto's home – something that made her sigh in relief. With her limited income she doubted she could afford to feed the boy. Buying clothes and a few toys proved to be expensive as it was, but it had to be done.

No guardians had been found that were willing to take the child on, but after another meeting with the Hokage – she was sure the old man hated her by now for her pestering – they had come to an agreement that Naruto would be enrolled in the Academy. That would allow him to socialize with children under the supervision of Chuunin as well as to run some of the energy out of his body. A shinobi would be sent on a regular basis to check on Naruto in the evenings to ensure everything was alright. It still did not placate her completely, but it was a start.

Still no sign of his previous guardians, which was probably a good thing, since she was too young to already be in jail for attempted or successful homicide in a street with numerous witnesses around.

Training with Ibiki proved to be difficult. He pushed chakra control, sparring matches, mind games, and a strict worth ethic onto the squad. The chakra control was not a challenge for her, thanks to her father conditioning her for years to groom her into the medical nin she always wanted to be, but that meant that the Jounin had high expectations for her.

She turned on her side and her eyes fell on a stack of scrolls on her nightstand. They were all pertaining to fuinjutsu. She reached out and ran her fingers across the parchment and a wisp of comfort ran through her. When she was six she never would have believed that she would find comfort in studying something as dry and tedious as sealing jutsu theorems. Then again, she took to the subject like a fish in water.

She was grateful that Kushina discovered a talent that may have stayed hidden for several more years, if not longer.

She turned away and stared at the ceiling again. Sleep was set on evading her that night, even though her body felt like a sack of potatoes.

_Sack of potatoes? Can that even be used to describe how I feel? Ugh._

Nevertheless, it irritated her. Arashi needed to sleep. Her father expected her to accompany him to work with him early the next morning.

The sound of a bird pecking on her window pulled her out of her thoughts. She slid out of bed, turned a lamp on, and moved a curtain to the side. Sure enough, there was a crow and it stared back at her. With a huff, Arashi felt around the area and found that a special flame was right above her window.

Itachi's face appeared above the crow and he gave a polite wave as a greeting.

"Oh, you, uh, I didn't expect you." She whispered and ushered him in.

He climbed through her window and gave her a skeptical look, "I did not wake you, did I?"

"Nope. Can't sleep tonight and it was starting to make me mad." She looked away and pouted. "I mean, I've been running myself ragged and the one night when I could catch up on some rest, my mind's too busy racing to let me. What is that?"

"You've been looking after Naruto?" He asked, but it struck her more like a statement.

"Yeah. Kid's guardians abandoned him and, well, I just couldn't let him be alone. You know, he's younger than Sasuke by a little bit."

"You loved his parents."

She blinked, "Wait, what? You know?"

"Kushina-san was my mother's friend." Itachi explained. "I went with her the morning after Naruto was born to see him in the hospital."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Arashi sat on her bed and motioned for him to join her. "So, what's up? Need to talk or something?"

He handed her a small box and sat beside her, "I missed your birthday. Sorry about that."

"Pfft, I missed my birthday, too. Busy, busy. Nothing to apologize for."

She turned the box in her hand. It was wrapped in purple paper with a small bow tied around it. She glanced over at him and grinned in approval. Arashi loved bows and ribbons. After appreciating how well he prepared the gift, she tugged the bow loose and tore the paper off the box.

"Perfume?" She pulled the bottle out and held it up to the light.

"I thought you would like it." He took the bottle from her and sprayed it on her wrist. "What do you think?"

She lifted the wrist to her face and inhaled. It was a light scent that smelled fresh and clean; not overly sweet or powerful. It was nice.

"I love it!" She thrust her wrist out to him.

His fingers closed around her forearm and she shivered as the tip of his nose grazed the inside of her wrist, "It suits you. I'm glad you like it."

Itachi released her and his lips twitched into a reserved smile. She braced her arm against her chest and chewed on her lip.

_How is he always so calm and cool?_

"Well," he glanced at the clock hanging on her wall, "I should get going. I just got back from a mission not long ago."

The word leapt out of her mouth before she could catch it, "Wait."

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Would you stay and talk to me for a bit? I haven't seen you in a while and, well, I've missed you."

He removed his sandals and sat cross legged on her bed. The lamp beside them casted long shadows across the room and it caused the boy to look more like an apparition than a companion. Arashi cleared her throat and readjusted the light so that she could see Itachi clearly.

He blinked in discomfort as his eyes adjusted to the light, "What is troubling you?"

"Well," she laid on her side across the bed near him, "I feel really stretched thin. Like, with everything in me, I want to be in five different places at the same time. I want to spend time with my family, but I also want to work at the hospital to further my dreams, and then there's Naruto and I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I'm not giving him every spare minute that I have, but I know I just _can't_ do that. Then, there's my team and that's a headache all of its own." She huffed, "And, well, I miss you. We've both been so busy, you know? You've spoiled me to eating at cafes with you and just getting to vent for a while."

He hummed in acknowledgement, "Stop thinking of life as a chain of objectives."

She paused and thought about his words. At times she felt like he was inside her head, but she did not mind. It was a feeling she had gotten used to years before. He surprised not only her with his intuitive nature, but every person he worked with. At a young age, he knew what made a person tick.

"But if I don't do that, I'm afraid I won't reach my goals."

"Don't feel that way." His eyebrows knit together sympathetically. "I am confident you'll reach your goals. Enjoy being a Genin and don't worry so much about the next step. It will come when it's time."

She snorted, "Says the boy who's gunning for ANBU after becoming a Chuunin at ten. When I think of objective driven, I think of you—"

He flicked her nose in response.

She covered her face and rolled away, "Really? _Really?_"

Another signature flickered outside of her window once, then twice, and then again. It was not the first time she had been near that chakra, so she knew who it was; Uchiha Shisui. His signature flickered again a couple times and she frowned in annoyance. He was trying to get Itachi's attention.

"I guess I want to keep you away from some of the harder paths in life," Itachi admitted.

Arashi peeked up at her friend, "So you want me to stay the same spoiled brat that I was in the Academy? Ribbons and tantrums included?"

He chuckled and tied the bow from the gift around one of her fingers, "I can be selfish."

"Sorry, but I'll have to grow up someday, Itachi-kun." She shook the adorned finger at him.

Shisui flickered outside her window again. Arashi's attention snapped over to the signature and she slid off her bed. Enough was enough.

She pushed her curtains to the side, leaned out and hissed, "Shisui-san, if you don't stop teleporting outside my window I will come out, drag you in by those girly eyelashes of yours and rip every last one of them out of your face!"

Itachi stared at her, aghast.

Shisui teleported inside the room and smirked mischievously at Arashi, "Well, I was trying to not impose on your conversation with my friend, but if you wanted my company you could have asked nicer."

The kunoichi squared her shoulders and threw her chin up, "Hovering outside a girl's window at night and eavesdropping on what she's saying is unacceptable."

"Oh, I see," he glanced over at Itachi with a playfully wounded expression, "I didn't mean to pry into your private time with each other. I didn't peg Itachi the type to go for the sassy, opinionated girls."

Her stance faltered into one of disbelief. The purely platonic friendship she had with Itachi had never been called into question before – he was devoted to his career and she was devoted to hers – anyone that knew them realized this. There would never be anything between the two – or at least she had never thought about anything more than friendship with him.

_No way is this jerk going to come into my room and make me feel like this!_ She bristled, "Don't worry; you have no reason to worry. I won't be coming between your bromance any time soon, so shove your attempts to embarrass me!"

"Did I strike a nerve?" He asked innocently.

Itachi, who was known for his level headedness and general sense of calm, was staring at them with his mouth slightly open. He looked from Shisui to Arashi and then back to Shisui. At that moment he looked like anything but a seasoned shinobi.

He looked like a boy that had been caught in bed with a girl in the middle of the night by his best friend – that being exactly what happened, except there was nothing untoward involved in their meeting – and the idea that someone thought otherwise mortified him.

The kunoichi poked Shisui in the chest with her finger, "This might be a fun game to you, but coming in and saying stuff like that to two friends isn't cool, alright? If you needed to talk to Itachi, you could have just asked. I mean, it's not like I'm not gonna let the two of you go do whatever it is you Uchiha people do."

The older Uchiha laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She started to pull away, but he braced her against his side and half dragged her to another corner in the room. He leaned over until his lips almost touched her ear. Arashi wanted to hide under her bed like a startled cat, but she was never the strongest person and the only way she could get away was if Shisui decided to let her go.

"Look, I was just playing with you. You're funny when you're all worked up, Arashi-chan." He whispered. "Besides, I know Itachi. The look on his face right now was worth it."

She glared at him. It was befitting that Shisui was Itachi's best friend. They were two of the most skilled Uchiha, prodigies, and their personalities seemed to balance each other out. Itachi was calm, quiet, and eccentric. Shisui was mischievous, somewhat playful, and more talkative. Both were infuriatingly intelligent and clever. Both of them were also great with genjutsu – why she kept a mental note of who was good with that field specifically only reminded her that she had some hang ups about her own lack of aptitude there – and as such were fascinating in an alien way to her.

_Why are most of the people in my life such a pain?_

"Also, what did you mean by bromance?" Shisui whispered.

She opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of a door opening and closing down the hall made her freeze. She shot a horrified look at both of the Uchiha and Itachi snatched his sandals off the floor.

"Arashi, are you awake?" Ookami's voice called through the door. "Is there someone in there with you?"

The two Uchiha were gone in seconds.

Arashi opened the door and peered up at her father, "Huh? I just can't sleep tonight. It sucks. Can't stop thinking about stuff."

"Oh." He scanned her room and nodded, "Alright. Try to clear your head. An active mind is the worst thing to have when you're trying to sleep."

"Yeah," she faked a yawn. "Well, guess we'd better go to sleep, huh, daddy?"

He smiled and turned to go back to his room.

Arashi closed the door and slid into bed. She turned the lamp off and buried her face in her pillow. That was close. If he had seen those boys in her room, then she would have crawled under a rock and died.

Not even a teenager yet and boys were already visiting her room in the night?

That was not something she wanted to subject her father to. She wanted to ride out _daddy's innocent angel_ for as long as she could. She had things to do, jutsu to learn, skills to hone, experience to gain, and goals to reach.

She caught the fresh scent of her perfume and smiled.

Then again, maybe she could slow down a little. Itachi had never asked her for anything in all of their friendship. For him, she would take her time – instead of running as fast as she could, she would walk some of the distance. She just hoped that someday her friend could slow down and walk with her.

She doubted his devotion to his responsibilities would ever allow that, but she hoped.

* * *

**Back to the Grind**

Arashi sighed and walked inside her father's office in the hospital. Nurses flitted back and forth in the hallway as they went from room to room. The kunoichi wished she had the energy to prance around, but at the moment her feet felt like boulders. While most of the day was left, her morning had been spent training with her squad.

It did not go well.

When they were not on missions the Genin were at each other's throats. Ibiki seemed to enjoy it to an extent, but even the sadist had his limits when it came to their drama. Their behavior earned them an intense, somewhat inhumane routine.

_No pain, no gain, right?_

Ookami looked up from some paperwork and smiled, "Ready to help me make a few rounds?"

"I feel more like a nap," she groaned.

"That can wait until you're home." He stood, "There's a lot of work to be done and you need the experience."

"I know, Dad. I know."

He handed her several files and she followed behind him. She flipped through the documents and got a quick idea of what she would be helping with that day. On the agenda was some preparation work for minor surgeries, outpatient procedures, and one major surgery that she was sure her father would have her observing.

The girl sighed. It was going to be a long day, but at least now she did not have to deal with her squad. On another note, her father had never pushed her harder than she could take. He was sensitive enough to her wellbeing to know when to be strict and when to give a little slack and for that she would always be grateful.

* * *

**A Gift for Itachi**

Arashi swallowed over the nervous lump in her throat and stared down the street at the entrance to the Uchiha compound. In one arm she held a gift. The box was wrapped with gray paper and there was a large, overly-dramatic red bow tied around it.

She was not sure if he even favored gray or red, but she figured it would be alright. He mostly wore gray and red was in his clan's symbol. At the very least it was acceptable.

_Well, I really don't know all that much about Itachi. Favorite colors are usually one of the first things people share about themselves,_ she thought while she eyed her surroundings.

Arashi shrugged and entered the compound. As she walked, she noticed many sets of eyes following her for a brief moment before they turned back to their own business. A few people nodded or greeted her in friendly tones, but she still felt somehow alienated. Everywhere she looked there were clan symbols, whether it was on clothing or displayed on their architecture.

Despite the estrangement, the signatures of the Uchiha clan were among her favorites. Genetically, they all had a disposition for fire and she could not think of an affinity more suited to their country. There was a darkness that she could sense within many of the clansmen, but she had felt a similar vibe from war veterans. She could not put her finger on what it was. All she knew was that neither Itachi, nor Shisui, nor Sasuke held it within them.

There was an undeniable tension growing between the Uchiha and anyone not in their clan. It was hard to not notice it. Blame had been thrown around after the fox demon tore the village up and she felt that it was unjustified. If anything it was discriminatory and needed to be stopped, but people were people; willful, ignorant, and lacking empathy.

She caught herself chewing on her lip and forced herself to stop.

In her mind, she determined that this was a good day. She could already feel Itachi inside his home and her destination was not far away. It was not the exact day of his birthday, but it was close. Missions had a tendency to steal a person's home-life, especially when those missions were often B ranked in Itachi's case. She was still stuck doing D's until Ibiki was convinced her team had enough sense to handle a higher rank.

His lack of faith in them was the opposite of refreshing.

She pushed those thoughts away from her mind and continued on her trek. When she arrived at Itachi's home, she stopped near the door and took a steadying breath. She was not sure what unnerved her about Itachi's parents, but there was something that did not sit right with her.

It might have been the critical, stern attitude Fugaku had.

It practically wafted off the man, after all. As pathetic as it might have sounded when admitted aloud, Arashi direly wanted him to like her. Because of that, any time she did something that was less than perfect near him it stuck into her like a barb.

Mikoto, on the other hand, made her feel at ease.

"Arashi-chan?"

She blinked, "Huh?"

Sasuke stared up at her with a confused expression on his face, "Why are you staring at my house like that?"

"Erm, yeah, I was distracted. Totally tunnel visioned right there."

"If you say so," He was not convinced.

"It's the truth," Arashi ruffled his hair, "Now, where's your brother? I have to give him a gift."

Sasuke's face lit up like only a child's can, "What is it?"

"Shh," She knelt down until their eyes were level, "I'm going to try to surprise him with it. It's something I hope he'll think is really cool. Don't tell him I'm here. We'll try to sneak up on him."

"He probably already knows you're here." The boy whispered. "He's _my_ big brother, after all."

"Oh, I see, I see." She nodded, "So what should we do?"

His eyes flickered from the box she was holding and then he met her gaze again, "If you tell me what it is I can tell you if my big brother will like it."

He sounded and appeared full heartedly earnest, but she knew better.

She threw her nose up in the air and dramatically shielded her face, "You're trying to manipulate me with those eyes of yours, aren't you?"

Sasuke pouted, "Nu uh."

"Nope, nope! When I was your age I had that stuff down like an art. I am completely immune." She stood, ruffled his hair again and walked around the house. "Tell your brother I need to talk to him."

"He's supposed to play with me today." He called after her. "So hurry!"

"If you keep being so jealous, Sasuke-kun, you'll turn green!"

"That's not possible!"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

The boy stuck his tongue out right back at her and raced inside to find his brother.

One thing Arashi did like about visiting Itachi was how lovely his home was. She stood by the koi pond and giggled as the fish came to the surface and opened their mouths to ask for food.

_You guys are aquatic hogs, you know that?_

A couple minutes passed before Itachi stepped outside and approached her. She turned toward him and held the box out at arm's length. The corners of his lips twitched and he took the gift from her.

"My brother said you had a gift for me." He commented.

"That boy can't keep a secret," she shook her head. "Well, go ahead and open it!"

He sat on the grass and untied the ribbon. Instead of discarding it to the side, he neatly folded the fabric and handed it back to Arashi. She crossed her legs and sat beside him, playing with the ribbon as she waited for his response. He opened the box and pulled out a book.

She cleared her throat and explained, "It's full of information about mythical and legendary items. Mostly weapons, really, but it has a lot of details about their histories and origins. I thought you might like it."

He cracked it open and flipped through the pages, "This is very nice. Thank you."

A crease formed between his eyebrows and his eyes focused on the words written across the pages. It reminded her of the times they met in the library to read and talk.

"If you could find anything in there to use, what would you choose?" She leaned over to see what he was looking at.

His finger settled on a name, "The Sword of Totsuka. The blade of sealing."

"That was quick. I guess you've read this stuff before?"

"Somewhat." He replied. "What about you?"

She pursed her lips, "I dunno. Maybe something like the Yata Mirror."

"The shield that negates all attacks?" He stared at her for a moment and hummed. "It would suit your personality."

She snorted, "You're either calling me vain or a mother hen."

He grinned and flicked her nose, "We can debate which it is at another time."

She shirked back from him to nurse her face. He closed the book, gathered everything together, and stood. She followed his lead and dusted the grass and some dirt off her clothing.

"Dinner is almost ready. Would you like to stay?"

She opened her mouth to accept, but caught a glimpse of Fugaku watching them from the doorway with his arms crossed, "Erm, maybe another time. My mom will be expecting me back and I still need to visit Naruto-kun. Tell your mother I said hi and don't forget to play with Sasuke-kun."

He glanced over at his father and frowned – he saw right through her excuses.

"Arashi-chan," he wrapped his arms around her for a quick hug, "You are very thoughtful."

She closed her eyes and embraced him back, "It's nothing. I hope it has some cool stuff in it that you haven't read a dozen times already."

Fugaku cleared his throat.

She released Itachi and waved at Fugaku, "Have a nice evening, Fugaku-san!"

The father and son frowned and shook their heads as she retreated – each for a different reason.

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter! Next chapter will have heavy Naruto and Arashi interaction, as well as his enrollment in the Academy. Soon Arashi will start going on missions that require her to act like a ninja, so please bear with me. If you have any thoughts, opinions, suggestions, or criticisms then share them in a review.

Honestly, I feel like I've made Itachi such a teddy bear. Sighh.. The Massacre is really going to suck. hahah


	4. Uzumaki Naruto

**Chapter 4: Uzumaki Naruto**

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _In which Arashi trains with her team, celebrates Naruto's birthday, and Naruto is enrolled at the Academy._

* * *

Hollywood Undead – Lion, The Rosebuds – Hold Hands and Fight

**Cathy8taffy**: Thank you for the review and support! I'm glad that you've enjoyed everything up to this point.

**DarkNexus4050**: Thank you for all of your support from the very first chapter I posted online!

* * *

Sorry that this took so long! I've been down in my back and entirely miserable for over a week now and I've also been pretty busy. Hopefully the next chapter won't take me so long to write. Thanks to everyone for reading and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It has a lot of Naruto interaction in it.

* * *

**Training**

"This is _awful_."

Arashi looked over at Daisuke and silently agreed with his sentiment. The three Genin were covered in dirt, their clothes were soaked with sweat, and their bodies ached from exertion. She had settled on her knees to catch her breath. Akio was in front of her in a crouch panting as heavily as she was. Daisuke sat to her left with a scowl on his face as he exuded dissatisfaction and frustration.

Their Sensei's lips twitched periodically as if he was having a hard time hiding his amusement.

"Welcome to being a ninja," Ibiki retorted, "Although you may not prefer Taijutsu, it is a skill that you must become efficient in. As soon as an opponent realizes you're long ranged, they will do their best to close that distance. If you don't have a way to defend yourself then you're dead."

"What about evasion?" Daisuke sniffed. "I mean, I've worked hard at being good at staying away from opponents and I'm pretty sure Shi-Shi-chan has, too. I'm dying to learn new techniques."

Ibiki was unmoved, "I'm not here to do what you want. I'm here to teach you all how to be productive soldiers with the hope that you'll live to a ripe age instead of dying young."

Daisuke frowned and crossed his arms, "But, Sensei—"

"You should always have a backup plan for when the one before it falls through." He grunted. "Otherwise, you'll end up dead. Now shut up and catch your breath. We still have a while to go before I'm done with you."

The boy closed his mouth and glared at his feet.

Arashi shifted on her knees and looked around the clearing. There were weapons scattered all about from training with them before they began sparring. The sun had risen and although they were under a group of trees, the heat was persistent.

Ibiki was not the type of man to give them long breaks, either, and she was done with Taijutsu for the day.

She cleared her throat and swallowed some anxiety, "Sensei, while we're, uh, catching our breath, maybe we could focus on something else? I mean, Taijutsu is going to be a life saver for us later, but it would be cool if you taught us some stuff that we could learn only from you. You're our Sensei, after all!"

"None of it would be pleasant for you, girl." He retorted. "What do you think you would like to learn from me?"

"Oh, well," She stammered.

"Profiling." Akio spoke.

Ibiki regarded the Aburame, "You want to learn how to analyze people better?"

"I do." He replied.

_Wait, that's actually pretty cool,_ Arashi perked up. _Good job, Akio._

The Jounin smiled, "Alright. Everyone on their feet and follow me."

"Are we going back to the interrogation ward, Ibiki Sensei?" Daisuke rose to his feet.

He smirked, "No, we'll do something a little more interesting today. Later, we'll go through some case studies of prisoners, but today I feel like being active."

"Oh?" Arashi tilted her head to one side, "Like what are we doing?"

"We're going to crowd watch, pick out a target, and track that target throughout the village. I want each of you to note every detail of what that target does and compile it together. From there, I want you to figure out who the target is as a person."

"So, we're _stalking_." She crinkled her nose.

"It's part of being a ninja. You don't think all you'll be doing is fighting to the death against other ninja, right?" He chuckled and shook his head.

"Well, I really hoped that wasn't what was going to happen with my life," Arashi huffed and crossed her arms. "Don't have to laugh at me."

The man snorted in response and marched off toward the village. She walked by his side while the two other Genin walked behind them. The kunoichi was not sure why, but when she walked behind him she got a mental image of her team clinging to the tail of his trench coat. It made her feel weird.

"Hey, if we're going to be trailing after someone, we shouldn't do it as a group." Daisuke commented. "I'd say we need to drag out some headsets for communication."

Akio grunted in agreement.

"You seem happy about this." Arashi glanced over her shoulder at Daisuke.

Akio grunted in agreement again.

"Hey, it's better than punching each other." He sniffed.

Akio did not grunt in agreement. Arashi and Daisuke looked at him and he shrugged.

_Of course he would enjoy taking swings at us;_ she pursed her lips and looked ahead. _Some things will never change._

They made a quick detour for equipment and before long they were in a crowded area. In order to not look as suspicious, they broke apart and slipped into the groups of people. Arashi scanned everyone around while trying to be casual.

"The woman window shopping; wearing pink. She's our target." Ibiki spoke through the headset. "Stay spread out and don't get noticed."

Arashi made herself familiar with the person's faint chakra signature. Their target was not a shinobi. From where the kunoichi was standing she could tell that the woman was middle aged and a little over weight. She wore expensive jewelry and there was a bag full of recently purchased items on her arm.

_Well, this shouldn't be hard._ She thought to herself.

They trailed her for hours. She went from store to store and stopped at a restaurant to eat. Following her proved to be easy. She was absorbed in her own affairs and paid little attention to anyone else.

When the woman made it to her home, Ibiki called them back to his location. The Genin took a seat on a bench while he stood in front of them with his arms crossed – a pose Arashi was sure he used during interrogations. He looked from Akio, to Arashi, and then to Daisuke.

"What did you figure out?" He broke the silence. "Akio, you go first."

The boy was quiet for a moment, "She's lonely and has expensive tastes. Quiet and kept to herself."

"Alright." He looked over at Arashi, "Now you, girl."

"Middle aged, liked expensive things. She bought clothes that were a little too small for her, I'm sure of it, but she looked at them and held them against her body like they were definitely for her, so I guess she's on a diet or something. She didn't talk to anyone and seemed like she was in a bad mood." She shrugged, "Other than that, the jewelry she had on looked old like it was handed down."

"You're last, Daisuke."

"She had a miscarriage and hasn't told her husband about it." He replied.

Akio and Arashi looked at him like he was crazy.

Ibiki's eyebrows rose, "And how did you come to this?"

"Like what Akio and Arashi noticed, except there was a lot more going on." He shrugged. "She kept touching her stomach and pulling her hand away like it hurt or something, she was looking at clothes that were a little too small for her, she was a bit overweight, and she was out alone. She wasn't happy to be shopping and her eyes kept going over to baby stuff every time she was anywhere near any, but she got this sad look each time. When she went to a restaurant she barely ate anything like she was not hungry and when she went home she stood at the door for a full minute before going in. I'd say she found out she miscarried today, bought some clothes for when she drops the baby weight, wasted some time to build up her nerve, and went home to break the news to her husband."

Their Sensei smiled, "Well, I did not expect you to be the most observant today. Good job."

Akio and Arashi shot daggers at Daisuke with their eyes. Daisuke's chest swelled with pride.

"Now," Ibiki continued, "Let's see what we can derive from everything you noticed and everything _I_ noticed."

Arashi leaned forward on the bench, her interest piqued. This was much better than D rank missions.

* * *

**Happy Birthday, Naruto!**

"Hurry, Sis!" Naruto called at Arashi.

"I'm coming!" She called back. "Don't run so far ahead."

"But it's my birthday! I'm six now! That's big!"

She adjusted a couple bags on her arms and followed after the boy. The bright orange of his clothing made it easy to track him through the groups of people in the market. Many of the people muttered under their breath and moved away from the child, but he paid no attention to their behavior. It made her chest feel tight, but she was glad that they were not openly cruel to him.

The spot of orange ducked into a small shop. She picked up her pace and weaved her way through everyone.

It was Naruto's birthday and by the way he was acting she had a feeling it was the first one he had ever celebrated. She tried to not think about it because every time she did it made her gravitate between being furious to wanting to cry. Her own brother had known nothing but love since he was born – even if he was odd and not the brightest kid. Every child deserved that kind of unconditional love.

Arashi looked up at Minato's face on the monument and sighed. She missed him and Kushina. Being near their child made her think of them and remember them every day. She wished that she could tell him who his parents were, tell him they were heroes, and tell him that they loved him – like how he wanted to be loved – but the Hokage would string her up for that. It was for his protection, but it felt like a crime.

She shrugged and turned to walk into the shop, but before she could enter, a commotion broke out inside. Something fell to the ground and broke and people started yelling.

"Get out of here, you little _monster_!"

Naruto slid out of the store on his back and stopped at her feet. The pair of goggles she bought for him just hours before fell off and clattered on the ground. He looked up at her with a shocked expression and then back at whoever threw him out of the building. She pulled him to his feet and looked inside to see who was responsible.

The shopkeeper came to the doorway and pointed right at Naruto, "You stay out of here, you hear me? I don't want you anywhere near my store!"

Something inside of her snapped, "Excuse me?"

He blinked when he noticed her, "I don't need him in here stealing anything."

"I wasn't stealing!" The six year old screeched at him. "I ain't that way!"

"I'd expect nothing but lies from _you_!" The man bristled.

"Well, what was he stealing?" Her voice was quiet, even to her own ears. "Prove to me he was stealing."

"He was!" The man insisted.

"_What_ was he stealing?" She took a step toward him.

He took a step back, "You're not seriously going to believe him over me, are you?"

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and slammed him against a wall. He started to resist, but his eyes fell on her hitai-ate and he went still. A ninja, even when young, was not someone to mess around with and the shopkeeper knew it. She could see the fear and disbelief in his eyes. He was almost twice her size, but she was in control of the situation.

Ibiki's physical training was the reason – if not for his focus on Taijutsu, then she never would have had the strength to pin this man to the wall.

"Now, let's try this again," She quietly hissed to him, "We both know Naruto wasn't stealing. So, why don't you re-evaluate yourself for a second right now. What possessed you and made you think it was okay to put your hands on a little boy and talk to him that way?"

"He's a demo—"

She slammed him against the wall, "Don't you _ever_ talk to him that way, do you hear me? Don't you _ever_ treat him like he's less, don't you _ever_ call him names, and don't you _ever,"_ she slammed him against the wall once more for good measure, "_ever _Touch him again!"

"Sis, don't waste your time on him! He's just dumb!" Naruto shouted, "I don't get why these people hate me, but I'm gonna be a ninja and I'm gonna be Hokage someday! That's my dream!"

The man's eyes flickered over to him and then back at her, "I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"You'd better not, you know." She whispered. "Because if you ever mistreat him again, I'll find out and then I'll get you back. I'll make you regret it. Every day I'm getting stronger and smarter, so you better not underestimate me, got it?"

He nodded, tensely.

Arashi released him and he slouched in relief. She turned away and smiled back at the little boy. He stood in the doorway and waited for her. His eyes were bright and he grinned from one ear to the other at. The goggles were back on his head, holding his hair out of his face again. She returned to his side and took his hand.

Only then did she realize a small crowd had formed to watch the scene.

She cleared her throat, "Hey, Naruto-kun, let's get out of here. We'll find a better place to celebrate your birthday. This place is too trashy."

"Alright!" He made a face at the shopkeeper.

"Here, get on my back. I'm faster than you are."

Naruto climbed on her back and pointed a finger at everyone around them, "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it!"

The people stared at them incredulously. Arashi felt a lot like a beast of burden at that moment, but brushed it off and pushed her way through them to get away from the stares. Naruto squeezed her in a hug from behind and rested his face on her shoulder.

Arashi's lips trembled, _I'm becoming Ibiki._

"Hey, Sis, what's with that look on your face?"

"Oh, nothing," She searched for an excuse – one that did not include the fear of growing up to be a sadistic interrogator – and grunted out, "You're just getting so heavy. Must be all that ramen you squirrel away and eat."

"Ramen! Let's go to Ichiraku's!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah! Yeah! It's my birthday and-and you're like the _best_ big sister, you know!"

"Well," Arashi blushed, "When you put it that way, how could I say no?"

He threw his fist up in the air and cheered.

When they arrived the owner – his name evaded her at the moment – grinned right at the boy. It was a welcomed change compared to how they were stared at earlier. She offered him a quick wave and planted the kid on a seat before she slid onto a stool next to him. Naruto almost vibrated with excitement as he watched his food being prepared. Arashi put her elbows on the bar and rested her chin in her hands.

At the moment, they were the only customers. It was nice to just be the two of them. She did not have to worry about anyone else but the boy.

"Naruto-kun, I'd like to talk to you." She set an eye on him.

"Huh?" He pouted. "What for? I don't like how you sound when you say that."

"Hmm, well, it's nothing bad. I just want to let you know that if anyone's ever mean to you, well, I want you to stand up for yourself. I don't mean take a swing at them or get into a fight, but don't let anyone talk bad to you, okay? And don't believe a word of the bad stuff they try to say."

His pout turned into a determined grin, "Got it!"

"Good."

"But, Sis?"

"Yeah?"

"What if they try to fight with me?"

She thought for a few seconds, "Well, try to be the mature one and settle the fight with words, but if that doesn't work out, do whatever you have to in order to take care of yourself."

"What if they're bigger than me?"

"If they're a guy kick them in the nads."

The boy's look of horror and then his cackle of amusement made her regret the suggestion.

"But only if he's way bigger than you and it's a really serious situation! And if anything happens, you better let me know."

"Okay, umm, and if it's a girl?"

"Hmm, well, when you're a ninja there won't be any difference between a boy and a girl if that person's a ninja. If you have to fight them, then you have to give it your all either way because that person is going to be really dangerous, okay?"

The boy nodded.

"But, if that person is a normal person, like a civilian, that's never had any fighting experience and she's just running her mouth, then you get away from her. Don't ever let anyone hurt you, but don't stick around if you know it's going to lead to trouble."

He pouted and crossed his arms, "Hitting girls ain't right, but I don't want to run from anyone."

"Hey now, running doesn't mean you're losing. Sometimes getting out of a situation means you won. You're more important than getting hurt in a pointless fight. You're important to me, after all."

He leaned over and hugged her arm. His wild blond hair tickled her skin, but she did not mind. She planted a kiss on top of his head.

He pulled away, "Eww, Sis. Don't kiss me like that in public. I'm not a baby."

She snickered, "Yeah, all those six years of yours must be weighing you down."

He poked himself in the chest with a finger, "I'll be Hokage in no time and then I'll make you my advisor or something."

"Oh? Is that a promise? You're giving me your word as a future shinobi?"

"Yeah! I promise! Everything I say is gonna mean a lot then, you know!"

She pinched his cheek, "That means you have to start making everything you say mean something _now_, alright? If you're going to grow up to be a man that's respected, you need to start being respectable now."

He opened his mouth to ask a question, but a bowl of ramen was placed in front of him. His eyes widened in excitement and he snatched up his chopsticks. The question was forgotten in favor of noodles and broth. The kunoichi grinned to herself and sat up straight when her own bowl of food was ready.

Naruto was too young to know what being Hokage meant, but she would do what she could to help him. Whether he would continue to chase after that dream once he came to understand what it meant or not was up to him, but she would support him either way.

_I wonder what he'll say when he finally learns who his father was._

"Ne, you went quiet, Sis." He commented before lifting more food to his face.

She blocked his chopsticks with her own, "Eat slower, Naruto-kun. I don't want you choking to death before you're even in the Academy."

"Are you going to go with me to the ceremony?"

"Of course! As long as my Sensei is okay with me taking a day off," she faltered. "I'm sure he should, maybe, possibly, be fine with it."

"Who is your Sensei?" He perked up. "What's it like being a ninja?"

She pulled her hand back so he could continue eating, "Shush and eat. I'm just a Genin now, so it's kinda boring, but that's okay. You have to start somewhere small before you go big, right?"

Naruto tore into his food again.

When they were done eating, she carried him on her back through the streets. It was late in the evening and she felt guilty about keeping him out as late as she did, but figured it was alright. For his birthday, Minato and Kushina would understand. Even with the incident earlier, the boy was happier than she had ever seen him.

Naruto handed his key to her after they reached his door and she stepped in. His eyes settled on a couple presents on the floor and he jumped off her back.

"No way! More presents?" He leaped at them.

She laughed and blocked his path, "Hold on. Wait until I tell you who they're from."

"Okay, but hurry!"

"Sit down and be polite."

He sat down cross legged and waited. She could feel the anticipation wafting off him, but took her time as she slid the bags off her arms. They were filled with clothes and toys that he wanted from their shopping trip earlier that day. Arashi knew he would need something nice to wear to the ceremony instead of clothing that was either too big or too small and obviously overly worn, so some of it was formal.

Normally, she would not have let someone pick out their own presents, but she was lost when it came to toys. Kazika was younger than Naruto and their interests were different. When Arashi was his age, she was obsessed with anything medical and anything that involved sealing jutsu, but she had a hunch he was not going to be the same kind of ninja she was. Therefore, she let him pick out his gifts.

"Alright," she pushed one toward him, "This one is from my family. That's me, my mother Naomi, my father Ookami, and my little brother Kazika."

He looked at the present for a moment in reverence before he ripped into it. Inside was a pouch along with a set of kunai. His mouth dropped open and he jumped to his feet with an expression of bliss on his face.

"My own ninja tools!"

He started to reach for one of the blades, but she stopped him.

"Okay, this is where it gets serious. Listen to everything I say about this stuff because it really matters."

He nodded and focused all of his attention on her.

"All of these kunai are blunted." She picked one up and ran a finger along the blade. "But they can still hurt and possibly kill people. You are not to use any of them unless you are training with me or with your Sensei at the Academy, got it?"

"Got it!"

"Here, hold one."

He picked one up and poked at it to see how dull it was, "This is the best present ever!"

"Naruto-kun, even if someone's being mean to you, do not use any of these against them unless you're afraid they're going to kill you, okay?"

He nodded, seriously. He held the kunai against his chest and squatted down to look through the pouch.

"Just remember, even when I was putting that shopkeeper in his place, I didn't use a weapon against him or any jutsu. You're about to be a ninja in training and as ninja we're to protect and help the people in this village. I know not all of them are very nice, but you'll meet people who are going to be your friends and it'll all be worth everything just to keep them safe."

He smiled wistfully, "How many friends do you think I'll make in the Academy?"

"It doesn't matter how many you make as long as they're good ones." She looked toward the other presents, "Don't you want to find out what else you have?"

The boy's eyes lit up again, "Yeah!"

"This one's from me."

He opened it to find a medical kit inside. She pointed out and named all of the different items and told him how to use them if she was not around to help him.

The rest of the presents were geared toward the Academy. Paper, pencils, books, and several different things he would find useful.

She looked at the time and stood, "Alright, let's get this mess cleaned up. It's past your bedtime."

He helped her clean the area up. She knew he would let his apartment slip and turn into a mess on occasion, but with her help he had been doing better about housekeeping. It was natural for a kid to slack when it came to something tedious like cleaning, but she wanted him to have good ethics. It was just hard to instill when she was busy and not around as much as she wanted to be.

"Ne, hey, Sis?"

She stopped what she was doing and looked over at him, "Yeah?"

"Will you stay the night with me? It _is_ my birthday, you know," he looked at his feet.

Arashi chewed on her lip. Her mother and father expected her home and she knew they would worry if she did not come back without letting them know where she was. There was no way for her to inform them if she did not go home and then return, but it was already time for the boy to get in bed. He wanted her company – he did not have anyone else in his life. She sighed.

They would live.

"Sure. Now, get in the shower."

The boy ran to the bathroom with a cheer, "Yeahh!"

Arashi put the clothing away and made sure the bed was ready. After she looked around the apartment and checked inside the refrigerator for any expired food, she sat down and removed her boots. Her normal shorts and shirt were close enough to pajamas to be comfortable to sleep in.

When Naruto was done showering, he leaped into bed with her and snuggled into her side. She ran her fingers through his hair and stared up at the ceiling.

"Thanks, Sis." He murmured.

"It's no problem, Naruto-kun. Happy Birthday."

* * *

**Focus**

Ibiki burned a hole through her face with his beady eyes, "How far away are they now? Focus."

Arashi looked down on the village from their perch on the Hokage Monument. They were seated on Hiruzen's head while Akio and Daisuke traveled through the village. She closed her eyes and focused. She could feel them, but she was not sure where their exact location was.

"Um, Akio is in that direction," she pointed left, "And Daisuke is a little farther this way," she pointed east of the Aburame's location. "They're both moving, but I'm not sure how far they are."

He nodded and unmuted his microphone, "Report your location."

"Three kilometers away at the Yakiniku restaurant." Akio's voice reverberated in her ear.

"Yamanaka Flower Shop." Daisuke responded once it was quiet. "I really have no idea how many kilometers."

Arashi nodded, "Okay."

"Mute your microphones and get moving again." Ibiki ordered them and muted his own.

"I'll get this down, Sensei. I'm starting to get it, but the distances are a bit hard to gauge." She played with the hem of her shirt. "Thanks for helping me train."

"Don't fidget like that. It makes me think you're about to ask me something."

"Well," She laughed, nervously.

"Spit it out."

"Can I have a day off?" she blurted it out. "I wanted to go to the Academy Enrollment Ceremony for Naruto-kun. It means a lot to us."

He smirked, "Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Well, a day off sounds nice." He commented. "We'll use it as a rest day."

If she was not terrified of him, she would have hugged him, "Thank you, Sensei!"

"Yeah, yeah, now focus on your training."

"Uh, right."

She turned away and faced the village again. The rest of her day was going to be this, but that was alright. Naruto was going to be very happy.

* * *

**Enrollment**

The day of the Ceremony came and Arashi fussed over Naruto the entire morning. He was no longer wearing his orange clothing, but was instead wearing something formal. His blond hair was not as wild as it normally was, thanks to generous amounts of gel and running a come through the mess. His face was clean, his teeth were brushed, and there was not a speck of dirt on him. Even the goggles were staying behind for this event.

"Sis, can we go already?" He whined.

"No whining through the ceremony." She pinched his cheek. "You have to behave and act mature, alright?"

"Yeah, I got it." He muttered and rubbed his cheek.

Arashi made sure they were both ready one last time and then they left. Once they were on the street, she took his hand in her own. He tried to pull away, but he could not get loose.

"Sis, your hand is like the maw of death!" He whined. "I'm not a baby; I can walk on my own. I'm in the Academy now, you know!"

She huffed and let him go, "Well, stay by my side and don't run off. I requested the day off so I could be with you."

He scratched his cheek in embarrassment, "Thanks."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him toward the Academy, "You're not going to get along with everyone, and there will probably be people who are better at stuff than you are, but use them to gauge yourself. Always try to do your best in everything, but don't worry too much if you're not great at certain things."

"Sis, you sound like an old woman, you know."

She glowered down at him, "I'm a delicate flower, thank you very much."

* * *

When they reached the Academy one of the Chuunin ushered Naruto to stand with the other children who were enrolled. Arashi spotted Sasuke right away and waved. The Uchiha boy's eyebrows rose, but he grinned back at her. She did not feel Itachi's signature, but she did feel Fugaku's.

She recognized several of the children as the offspring of clan leaders and that piqued her interest.

_Do they all have a pact for when they're going to have kids or something?_

Arashi filed in among the parents and approached Fugaku. She stopped by his side and offered him a friendly smile. He nodded in greeting, as stern as he always was. In all honesty, she was almost surprised to see him there. He worked as much, if not more than her father – she had come to terms with Ookami being a workaholic years ago, but she noticed when other people shared that addiction.

"Is Itachi-kun on a mission?" She whispered.

"Yes." He replied and his attention settled on her.

"Ah, yeah. Not much else would make him miss something like this. He really loves his little brother. I'm sure you're very proud of both of them."

She actually was _not_ sure of that, but she hoped he was.

Fugaku crossed his arms, "I saw you with Naruto, so I assume you're here for him?"

"Yeah, I've been looking after Naruto-kun."

"I see." His expression softened just a little, but he still retained a distant vibe, "That is very kind of you. It must be hard to divide your time so much between your training and a child."

It was not often that the man spoke to her this much, but it made her feel bubbly and nervous at the same time – even if there was still a hint of haughtiness to his words.

"I'm determined, but it does get to be exhausting. Going between Ibiki Sensei, to medical jutsu on patients, to chasing after Naruto-kun has its perks, though."

He arched one eyebrow at her, as if he was asking her to clarify.

"I fall asleep as soon as my face touches my pillow. Usually, anyway."

She grinned at him and he snorted. He turned a little more toward her, and her back stiffened in anticipation.

_Oh my, he's actually going to have a full conversation with me._

Just as he was about to speak, something caught his attention. He turned away and looked toward the children. She followed his gaze and her stomach dropped.

Naruto and Sasuke were in the middle of a glaring contest.

Fugaku's expression soured. As soon as his son noticed, he stopped throwing nasty looks at the Uzumaki and stared forward. Naruto noticed Arashi mouth "STOP" and he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

_Great. Friends: zero. Enemies: Itachi's little brother. Good job, Naruto-kun. Good job._

Arashi lamented. Fugaku was no longer in the mood to talk to her anymore and her chance to get to know her oldest friend's father better had passed. The only thing she did realize from their short banter was that Itachi had, in fact, taken after his father in looks, whereas Sasuke was a male version of Mikoto. For some reason she had never noticed that before.

She shook her head and focused on the ceremony.

This was the first step for Naruto's career as a ninja. It brought back memories of her own experience and how proud her parents had been of her.

_I hope Naruto makes some friends soon. It'll help him out a lot when I'm busy._

Fugaku casually broke her out of her thoughts, "I received an interesting report about a Kunoichi of your description man handling a shopkeeper a while back."

She spluttered, "What? Me? Man handling someone?" She pointed at her arm, "I'm like, skin and bone. How could I bully a grown man?"

He looked down at her and the corner of his mouth tugged into a smirk, "I thought the same thing."

Her mouth fell open and she was not sure whether she should be offended or amused.

* * *

Alright, that's it for tonight. If you have any suggestions, opinions, criticisms, or anything you'd like to say then share it in a review – I'm open to any sort of feedback and it's all appreciated! ^-^

Next chapter will have Itachi interaction and Arashi's first C rank mission! Finally, she'll start doing ninja stuff. hahah


	5. C Ranked Ninjas

**Chapter 5, Part 2**

**Setting Goals**

I would like to apologize for how long I've been absent. It was far from intentional and I have no intentions of abandoning this project. Life snatched me away and kept me away from my keyboard for far too long.

Anyhoo, here we go. I apologize if this chapter has errors all over it or is boring. I do not particularly enjoy writing Arashi's missions since right now none of them will involve ninja vs ninja content, but since it's her first I thought I would write it as an example of what her team's missions operate like early on. Suggestions of all kinds are welcomed. :)

* * *

**Sia – Soon We'll Be Found**

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Arashi chats with Itachi and later goes on her first C ranked mission.

* * *

Arashi picked at her food, absently. Her focus was on a stack of papers beside her plate. Training had been nothing less than intense with her sensei, but she could see where she had reaped benefits. Not only had she advanced in combat knowledge, but she looked at the world and especially people differently. It was a bit like connecting the dots together until finally the full image came together and everything made sense.

There were also certain drawbacks to how much she had thrown herself into training. She did not see much of her family, other than late in the evenings before she collapsed in her bed or early in the mornings as she was leaving. She had barely even seen Naruto since he entered the Academy and the boy had been sure to let her know she needed to fix that.

"What are you studying?"

Arashi jolted and looked up. Itachi stared at her with his eyebrows raised just enough to denote curiosity. As always, they made a point to go to a café of some sort on a semi regular basis to catch up with each other – even if it always ended up with Arashi doing most of the talking and Itachi listening. He was almost finished with his meal, while she had barely touched her own.

"Oh, well, it's more like something I want to study." She replied. "Nature transformation, some other sealing theories, and a medical jutsu my dad showed me – he's always good to give a lot of information with it because it helps to know the jutsu inside and out."

"Nature transformation is advanced," he commented as he lifted his cup to his lips for a drink of tea.

"I know," her shoulders sagged, "and that means more of my life going into bashing my head against a wall until I can claw my way through."

He inclined his head to one side, "Feeling overwhelmed?"

She set an eye on him. She was, in fact, feeling overwhelmed, but the idea of admitting that to him made her feel selfish. He managed to get himself into the ranks of the ANBU – doing the Hokage's dirty work for the country – as well as taking the time to be with his brother and serving his clan. The fact that he was a little younger than her was a dig at her sense of fulfillment, as well, but she would never admit that openly.

Instead, she answered, "I would like to spend more time with the people that matter to me, I guess, but at the same time I want to push myself to see how far I can go and that takes a lot of time."

Itachi hummed in agreement.

"And, you know what?" Arashi continued. "I saw my brother this morning look at me like I was a stranger rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen! What even is that? I'd rather him cling to my legs and beg me to play with him like you and Sasuke-kun over simply being forgotten."

"Sasuke is very direct and straight forward about what he wants." Itachi shrugged, "Sounds like your brother is developing a more subtle approach to getting your attention."

"Subtle? More like manipulative!"

Itachi rested his chin in a hand and the corner of his mouth quirked up. He looked at her pointedly. If he had been anyone else, she was sure he would have said, _"The pot calling the kettle black!"_

Arashi huffed, "I blame my parents – my mother, specifically."

"I see," Itachi chuckled and then changed the subject, "What will it be, then? Nature transformation or the medical jutsu?"

"What about the sealing theories I mentioned?"

"You have my confidence concerning sealing techniques."

The compliment made her face burn so she dug through the papers by her plate as a form of distraction. People had given her praise about her aptitude in that area before, but she could not remember any other instance of _Itachi_ giving her a compliment. Itachi – a prodigy from a clan known for its talent – had noted her skill in a positive light.

"Well," she cleared her throat, "I guess I'm leaning more toward the healing jutsu. I _am_ a medical ninja, after all, but after I've gotten through that I will focus on broadening my, uh, usefulness."

Itachi reached across the table and pulled the stack of papers away from Arashi. He thumbed through them and his dark eyes scanned across the words. Arashi almost protested, but stopped when he motioned toward her food and pinned her with a brief but intense glance.

"Point taken."

At his young age he had already mastered a look of authority that could rival her father's. Without any more hesitation, she focused on her food. Perhaps Itachi had inherited _something_ from Fugaku, besides aspects of his appearance.

* * *

**Hello, C Ranked Mission, How Do You Do?**

Arashi groaned when her alarm clock went off. She pushed her yellow, floral blanket away from her body and spilled out of her bed. As soon as her feet hit the chilled, wooden floor she regretted the transition. She shuffled over to the clock and turned it off before she turned and wiped at her bleary eyes.

Without a doubt, this was one of the days in which she would have preferred to stay curled up in bed with a book. She had a bookshelf full of books on the wall across from her bed and yet she had not read half of them. It struck her as a shame.

With one last, longing look she turned away from the novels and got herself ready for the day. She was sure to seal several changes of clothes, extra medical supplies, and rations for her mission into scrolls. It was a much more convenient way to pack things for travel.

The stairs creaked in protest as she trotted down them. She hit the ground floor of her parents' home and turned toward the kitchen. Their home was not one of the traditional styles that once comprised the houses of Konoha, which was why she had a fondness for the Uchiha compound. Everything there felt like a trip back into the past. It was charming.

Not to say that her own home was without its own endearing qualities. Her mother kept it well in order, decorated, and clean but it still felt homely.

Arashi took a bite out of a snack and turned around.

Kazika stood on the other side of the kitchen with an indifferent expression on his face.

"What?" Arashi mumbled through her mouthful of food.

The boy stuck his nose up and crossed his arms across his chest, "Mommy says that's rude."

She swallowed.

"Mission?" He shifted from one foot to the other.

"Yeah," she stuffed a couple protein bars into her pack.

"How long?"

"A week?" She shrugged. "I guess it depends on how well it goes."

The boy nodded but tried to keep up his façade of indifference. It struck her now that he had grown quite a bit since she made Genin. He was still round faced and carrying his fair share of baby weight, but there was no doubt that he was her father's son. His personality had taken a turn toward what she assumed hers must have been like at his age – everyone too busy with work to give him attention without him working it out of them. If she had doubted the stories about her at his age, she was inclined to believe them now.

"Why are you so curious now, Kazika?" She tried not to grin at him.

He was quiet for a moment before he suggested with a shrug, "Play with me when you get home?"

"Sure," she ruffled his hair.

As she walked out of the room, she glanced over her shoulder and caught him grinning at her back.

She found her mother waiting at the door for her.

"Did you remember everything?"

"Yes, mom," she wrapped her arms around her for a brief hug.

"Your father is already at the hospital, but he told me to give you his love," her mother whispered before she planted a kiss on Arashi's cheek.

Arashi leaned into the affection, "I'll be alright. It's just a C rank mission. Infiltration and retrieval, according to Ibiki. We have to head over to a nearby town to meet up with our, uh, _employer_ where he'll fill in more details and point us in the right direction."

Her mother's lips drew into a line, but she nodded and stepped aside, "Be safe. Remember that I love you."

"I love you, too. Tell Dad I love him when he gets home this evening."

"I will."

Arashi stepped out and set out toward her Team's meeting spot.

* * *

Arashi walked by Ibiki's side and peered around at their surroundings. Akio walked at the Jounin's other side, while Daisuke walked behind them with a sketchbook in his hands. It was the first time she had left the village since she was taken in by her adoptive father – she honestly did not remember much before that – so it was like her first trip out of Konoha.

She glanced over at her sensei and squinted.

It was strange to see Ibiki out in the open and away from buildings. The sound of birds singing to each other, and the sight of butterflies fluttering around his face was amusing. Not that she expected to never see him out in nature with their group, but all of their time before was spent training in Konoha. He just seemed out of place in his blacks, grays, and stoic expressions.

Daisuke occupied his time sketching the scenery. She sighed to herself.

_It's nice how he can keep himself distracted._

Akio stared ahead without an expression on his face. It was hard to read him since he always wore sunglasses. She could only remember two or three expressions ever being on his face. One was the blank one he had now and the other one or two she filed under his bullying stints.

Arashi looked down at her feet and chewed on her lips. Wearing boots was probably not the best option for the traveling portion of their mission. The sandals that everyone else wore appeared more practical.

In short, her feet hurt. Beyond that, she was bored. She was not in the mood to read while walking. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally trip over a rock and be laughed at by her teammates. That left only one option for her to fall back on.

Speak to her team.

"Ibiki Sensei?" she tugged his sleeve, "Do you have any more information about our mission?"

He peered down at her until she released his coat, "Infiltration and retrieval. Kishi-san was originally willing to hire Chuunin or Jounin, but upon reviewing his situation it was filed under a lower C ranked mission."

"What was stolen, anyway?" Arashi tilted her head to one side.

"A rough draft for his next book."

"So," Arashi raised her eyebrows, "Another author stole it?"

"He believes so," Ibiki nodded.

"Well, that's admittedly strange. I guess there's a heated rivalry there?"

Ibiki snorted and Arashi let out a short laugh.

A while after they fell silent, she ventured to ask, "How much longer do we have to go, anyway?"

"A couple days," he replied.

She groaned, but she was not alone – Daisuke and Akio joined her – whereas Ibiki chuckled at them.

* * *

When they arrived in Kansai, Arashi nearly cheered out loud.

Her feet hurt, she needed a shower, she was beyond bored, the straps of her pack chafed her shoulders, and she was tired of trying to talk to her team. All Daisuke wanted to talk about was how aesthetically pleasing everything was while Akio remained quiet and reserved.

_Ibiki's not much better. Could probably tell us a million ways to interrogate someone, but is lost when it comes to bantering with us kids._

The town was much smaller than Konoha, but she could see why an author would choose it to reside. The streets were busy with people and there were businesses of all sorts all around. The air did not taste quite as clean as she was accustomed to and the lack of trees all around made her feel somehow alienated. She squared her shoulders and brushed the negative feelings away.

She would have to deal with more than just a sleazy town before her career was over.

The chakras of the people were somewhat different than the ones she had grown up near. Most of them were undeniably of the Land of Fire, while some of them felt foreign somehow. None of them stuck out as being ninjas from what she could tell. It made sense that there would be foreigners in the area, though, with the amount of trade the town was probably involved with.

_Some of our Hokages were able to tell the difference between ninjas from different countries, so maybe this is what it's like? Kind of eerie how they're _different_, though._

The Genin clustered closer together and Arashi almost snorted when she noticed the three of them almost touching each other. Ibiki led the way through the crowds and watched the surroundings like he had done this a million times. The difference between the casual ease of the Jounin and the nervous glances of the Genin was beyond obvious – some of the citizens even pointed and whispered to each other.

_It's like Ibiki's the mother duck and we're ducklings stumbling over our own feet to keep up with him._

It did not take long for Ibiki to lead them down several streets and finally to an apartment complex. They climbed two sets of stairs and went down a hallway where Ibiki knocked on a door and waited. Shuffling could be heard from inside and then the door creaked as if someone leaned against it.

After a moment, a man called out, "Who's there?"

"Team Ibiki, from Konoha," their sensei replied.

The door swung open to reveal a short man with black hair, tanned skin, and dark eyes. He looked out at them with his mouth drawn into a thin line and a frenzied energy about him as he gestured them inside. Ibiki stepped in with the three Genin peering out from behind him. Kishi's apartment was of a decent size, well furnished, and mostly organized – except for a desk that had stacks of papers, books, scrolls, pens, and pencils all over it.

"Hello, everyone. I am Kishi Moto. I need your help getting my work back from a thief that broke into my apartment. The authorities couldn't help me at all here, so I've had to resort to hiring you."

"Who do you think has it now?" Ibiki asked and crossed his arms.

"A competitor," he replied, immediately. "I received a note from someone offering to ransom it back to me, but the price is relatively high and I should not have to pay for something that I wrote with my own hands."

"Did they offer a meet up point?"

"Yes," he turned and shuffled through some papers on his desk before he turned back to Ibki, "I have the letter here."

The Jounin accepted it from him and read over it, "Did you show this to the local authorities?"

"After they failed to find any leads when the initial theft happened, I was scared to involve them in this." Kishi admitted. "I didn't want to lose any hope of getting it back."

"You didn't have any copies anywhere?" Daisuke glanced at the desk.

"I did, but everything concerning it was cleared out."

Arashi pursed her lips in thought and replied, "Well, who do you think it was?"

"An old acquaintance of mine. We both shared the same dream of being novelists. I had more success than he did and our friendship broke down into pettiness like this, but never anything this bad before. I have no proof it was him, but I'm sure that it must have been him."

Ibiki looked over his shoulder at his students and gestured for them to step forward.

"Well, what's his name?" Daisuke was the first to catch onto his queue. "And what details can you give us about him?"

"What about his whereabouts?" Arashi added.

Akio spoke for the first time in hours, "Would he hire bodyguards or leave it in someone else's hands to look after it?"

Ibiki's mouth quirked into a grin of approval before it thinned back into its usual line as he turned to regard their employer.

"His name is Kazu Hiko. He lives across town from here, so not very far away. I wouldn't have thought that he would have hired any thugs until some threw a brick through my window with the ransom note attached. Hiko should know that the rough draft's safety is enough to keep me in line."

"Seems a little pathetic and desperate," Daisuke sniffed.

"Do you think he needs the money?" Arashi asked. "I mean, all of this seems pretty far fetched."

Moto sighed and threw his arms out in frustration, "It is ridiculous, I know. I've lost sleep over this."

All four of the ninja could not disagree with him. He looked terrible. The bags under his eyes were enough to testify for his words.

Ibiki hummed to himself and looked the room over, "I think I have a plan. Since you do not have _proof_ that the one responsible is this Kazu Hiko, we will have to take a few extra steps."

The man went still, "Anything to get this fixed."

"Alright," Ibiki continued, "You are going to pay the ransom, but my team and I will be shadowing you and blending in with the area so that they don't catch onto our presence. After the trade is completed, you go somewhere safe and we will follow the person that met you and get to the bottom of this. We will find whoever is behind this and return with all of your assets."

"That sounds like a good plan," Moto replied, hesitantly. "I just wish I did not have to be involved with any of this. It's going to make me go gray."

Arashi eyed his hairline and deduced that he was already going gray.

"How long until we do this?" Akio asked, impatiently.

"Ahh, I can contact one of the thugs and set up the tradeoff for tomorrow," Moto's shoulders sagged.

* * *

Arashi rolled her shoulders in an attempt to work a knot out of her back. Instead of finding a hotel and everyone getting rooms, Moto had insisted that the team stay in his apartment. Although it was not a very small apartment, it was meant only for one or two people to live in, so they had to sleep on the floor with their sleeping bags. Four nights of sleeping either on the ground or on the floor left Arashi aching. Not even the hot shower she had taken that morning did anything to ease the pains in her joints.

At the moment the four ninja were spread out through the crowd and subtly keeping an eye on Moto. The meeting spot was the most crowded street in the town, during the busiest hour of the day. It made it easier for the transaction to go down without anyone noticing.

Presently Arashi, stood in front of a street vendor and peered over his goods with more than just feigned interest. All of the items were knickknacks and trinkets meant for tourists, but each had an allure about them that kept her interest away from her mission. There was a music box, in particular, that she was eying.

_I'm going to buy that. If I do it fast enough, no one will even notice, and if they do, then it just adds to my cover up. Yeah._

"What are you doing?" Daisuke whispered by her ear.

Arashi squealed and the music box fell out of her hands. The boy caught it and turned it over a few times to examine it. It was nothing fancy, but to her it was delicate. A kunoichi was depicted on the top of the box with a kunai in her hand. He hummed to himself and turned his attention back to her.

"If you're thinking about buying this, let me paint over it once we get back to Konoha. It looks tacky the way it is now."

Arashi glared at him, "I think it's lovely."

"Oh," his eyes widened and he sneered, "Oh, honey."

Before she could retort, another set of hands plucked the trinket away from Daisuke. Her lips thinned into a line as she stared at Akio in a disgruntled manner. She half expected him to break it in order to get a rise out of her.

"Aren't you supposed to be across the street?" Arashi threw her nose up.

"What does it sound like?" He mumbled as he wound it up.

The kunoichi spun around in a circle as a melody played slightly off tune. It sounded terrible. A dying cat would have sounded more pleasing The Aburame's eyebrows rose before he exchanged a look with Daisuke and offered the music box back to Arashi. Her cheeks burned, but she took it from him.

"Waste of Ryo," was Akio's only comment.

"Yeah, well, I like it."

Daisuke shook his head a little, "Leave it to a girl to be shopping instead of focusing on her mission."

Akio grunted.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Arashi almost threw her ryo at the vendor and stashed her music box away, "It's not like you have any business over here, _y'know_!"

"Just checking on our medic, Shi-Shi-chan." Daisuke grinned. "Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Take care of the team medic? You used to always get lost when we were younger."

Akio snorted in amusement.

"You know, I have half a mind to let you guys die if you ever get hurt," Arashi crossed her arms and turned away from them.

Just to see Ibiki standing nearby glaring at them.

The three Genin stared back at him for a full moment before each started to fidget. Arashi smiled at him, nervously, but it looked more like a grimace. The Jounin gestured for them to follow him and they did so without a word.

_We are so getting chewed out for this later._

From the top of a building, they watched Moto walk toward a couple of people that looked like they had lived on the streets their entire life. One looked like he could fight a building and win. He was taller than Ibiki, muscle bound, and did not even bother with wearing a shirt. His skin was riddled with scars from various fights and he had no hair, but nothing else about him was remarkable. The second man was slim, short, and would have had no intimidating factor about him, except his eyes were cold enough to make Arashi uncomfortable even from a distance. The big one had more physical strength, but she could feel that he was the least aggressive out of the two. The smaller one's signature was cold and more hardened – desensitized to what they were doing – whereas the big one felt less at ease and somehow gentler.

_Appearances can be deceiving, I guess._

The short one – Arashi assumed he was the leader of the two since the other appeared a bit more on the dull side – pushed off the wall her was leaning against and met Moto halfway. He exchanged a couple items with the author and nodded curtly. Moto clutched his possessions to his chest and scurried away in the opposite direction.

The two thugs exchanged a laugh between each other and went their own way.

"Now we move on to the interesting part." Ibiki announced.

Their team kept a wary distance from their targets as they followed. It would complicate their plan if the enemy figured out they were being pursued and that was the last thing they needed to deal with. It would push their mission from being a day or two at this rate to being indefinitely longer and not worth the pay. Even if two slipped out of their sight, Arashi would be able to lead them back onto the trail.

Blood pounded in Arashi's ears from excitement. This was more interesting than a D ranked mission and there was something thrilling about spying on people. She glanced over at Akio and found him grinning – a lighthearted grin, not the hard one he used to taunt – and it made her grin in response. He enjoyed this more than he would admit openly. It reminded her that he was as human as she was. Daisuke, on the other hand, was focused and serious. He had his eye on the target and he was absorbed by it.

They followed the two grunts all the way out of the town and to a café. They were sure to stay behind bushes and remain as inconspicuous as possible, but it was undeniable that the thugs were not as concerned as they should have been. It was almost too easy to track them.

"That café must be their meeting point with their employer," Ibiki whispered to his students.

"If we walk in there and start following him, won't it be suspicious?" Arashi whispered back.

"One of us will use the Henge jutsu, go into the café, order food and figure out who the employer is. Once that is determined and he is leaving, the person we send inside will pay for their food, come out and act like he's leaving."

Arashi pursed her lips, "Okay, who's going?"

"I will." Daisuke volunteered.

Ibiki nodded his approval. Once Daisuke was disguised as a different person, he walked to the café. Half an hour passed before a man emerged and started on his way back toward the town with the two grunts following him. A minute after that, Daisuke re-emerged and walked casually over to where his team was hidden.

"He the one?" Ibiki asked as he eyed up the man.

"Unless they gave the ryo to the wrong person," Daisuke shrugged, "and they really like hanging out with him? And they like calling him Kazu Hiko?"

Once again they were on their feet and following at a distance. The excitement that Arashi felt earlier had died down and now she was just anxious for the mission to be completed. They waited until their targets were far enough away from any establishments that no one would hear any commotion.

"Now, we confront them." Ibiki announced.

"Right," Arashi pulled out a kunai.

The Jounin sighed, "Arashi, stay back and offer support. Medic ninjas should not join fights unless absolutely necessary."

"But," Arashi gaped, "I've been waiting days for this."

He pinned her with a look and she wilted away – feeling absolutely _useless._

Daisuke pulled out a couple scrolls and looked over at Akio. Already, Kikaichu were swarming around him in preparation. Arashi put her weapon away and bit down hard on her lip.

_This is not fair._

"I will let you boys handle this. Arashi, give them support if they need it, but they shouldn't need any."

"Right," she sighed. "Got it."

_Be useless._

Akio closed the distance between him and Hiko. His bugs swarmed in the air so loudly that the cries of shock from the two grunts were almost drowned out. Daisuke followed closely behind and turned to flank the three men.

Hiko cried out in shock when Daisuke appeared in front of him to stand between him and the town.

"Defend me! Do what I've paid you to do!"

The first to act was the large one. He ignored the bugs that swarmed across his bare skin and swung one large arm at Akio. The boy side stepped the attack and swiped the grunt across the face with a fist. The giant grunted and threw another punch at Akio, but he ducked beneath it and landed another blow to the man's face.

Behind him, the cold eyed thug pulled out a knife.

"Akio!" Arashi screeched. "Behind you!"

A kunai – courtesy of Daisuke – buried itself in the smaller grunt's shoulder. He dropped his knife and clutched at his wound. Akio twisted and threw his whole body into a kick that connected with the second thug's face. Arashi's mouth fell open as a few teeth flew through the air and the man fell to the ground. She doubted he would be getting up any time soon.

The giant moved to grab Akio and grapple him to the ground, but the Aburame jumped back and well out of his reach. Daisuke whistled and the man looked over at him right as he finished a jutsu.

The shriek that came from the thug did not suit a man his size. He tore at his skin and began to roll across the ground in a vain attempt to get the bugs off of him.

"_Hornets!"_ Hiko shrieked as he cowered on the ground.

_A genjutsu, _Arashi grimaced.

She had heard Ibki chuckle, she had heard him snort, grunt, taunt, and tease, but she had never heard him laugh like he did at that moment. He held his sides to brace them from the peals of laughter that tore out of him at the sight of the two shrieking men and the third unconscious on the ground.

Arashi covered her face with one palm and shook her head.

It did not take long for the Kikaichu to leave the other two men unconscious on the ground with just enough chakra left to leave them alive. They were not ninjas, after all, and had never worked at honing their charka.

Arashi walked over and helped Daisuke locate the ransom Moto paid for his own project. Hiko was not a remarkable villain. He was plain in appearance and he looked pathetic in his current position.

"Hornets?" Akio mumbled to himself. "Hm."

Daisuke smiled mischievously, "I thought it was a nice touch."

"Well, let's get this back to Moto-san and return to Konoha." Ibiki called over to them.

Moto was elated to have everything returned to him and offered to let their team stay another night. Ibiki politely declined and they stated their journey back to Konoha.

* * *

They were less than a day's travel from Konoha. They were once again among trees and only then did she feel like she could breathe again. It was almost time for them to break camp and finish the last leg of their journey. Akio had excused himself to go out into the trees to relieve himself while Ibiki extinguished their fire and Daisuke started to pack his possessions. She stared at her tacky music box, dejectedly.

_Maybe I should let Daisuke touch it up a bit…_

A cry of pain echoed out through the silence of the trees and shattered the peace.

Arashi jumped to her feet and started running in the direction she heard it come from. She knew from her time in the village's hospital what it sounded like when someone was really injured. Her senses burned and her legs felt weak as she followed her senses toward what she knew was Akio's signature. Ibiki was by her side and Daisuke was behind her.

_There's someone else with him!_

Without a doubt, there was another signature near Akio. She had sensed stronger ones, but still she could tell that this person had received formal training – a shinobi – but it did not feel foreign and it was now retreating.

When they came across Akio, Arashi's stomach lurched.

Akio was crumpled on the ground, clutching his abdomen as blood spilled out between his fingers. She threw herself down by his side, pushed him back, and moved his hands out of the way. She placed her palms on his wound and bit down on her lip.

It was deep and very bad.

* * *

Once again I would like to apologize for how long I've been away and I'm sorry if this feels particularly rushed. I wanted to get it out of the way. Thank you for reading and I hope everyone enjoyed! Any suggestions or criticisms are welcomed! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and added my project as a favorite. :)


	6. The Little Things

**Chapter 6**

**The Little Things**

I would like to once again thank everyone who takes the time to read and review this fanfiction. I appreciate every bit of it. :)

I would like to say that I have attempted to write Kazika more like a normal child than any of the other young characters. Why? Because they're eccentric creatures that are endearing and sometimes repulsive at the same time. He is not abnormally smart, talented, or special. He is a child with a blank slate at this time. With age there will be development, but right now he is just one of those impulsive, strange creatures we all started off as.

* * *

Iron and Wine - Evening on the Ground. Modest Mouse - Float On.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: In which Arashi is far from useless, and Naruto and Kazika meet.

* * *

**Improvise**

There were two stab wounds.

Arashi pulled a kunai out of her pouch and sliced through Akio's coat and shirt once - twice - a third time. Ibiki's hands entered her view and pulled the clothing out of the way so that she could reach the wound more easily. It showed her what she already knew.

Akio was bleeding out.

"Plasma pill, medical pouch," Arashi spoke, but her voice sounded far away.

Chakra flowed from her hands and into his body. She closed her eyes and focused on him with every ounce of concentration she could muster. She paid no attention to her sensei as he rummaged through the medical pouch while it was still wrapped around her, nor did she notice Daisuke's ashen complexion as he stared down at his dying companion. There were specks of chakra all through Akio's body from his kikaichu, but she was able to push them from her mind. All that she knew was his chakra pathways and the manner that they coincided with his veins, arteries, and organs.

Ibiki administered the pill to Akio and took a step back.

The wound under her right palm, although deep, was not the immediate threat. The one under her left was the worst. Blood seeped out of the artery with every pulse of his heart. All of the medical knowledge she had been stockpiling her entire life rushed to the front of her mind, but she knew - in a cold, calculated way - that if she tried to mend the artery he would die before it was finished. Healing always took time, even when aided by medical ninjutsu.

She could feel his signature weakening with every moment. Her thoughts raced as she clawed for something that she could do that would help him, but nothing came to her. A chill settled in her stomach.

"_Panic kills,"_ her father had told her on more than one occasion. _"There's always a different way you can use a jutsu. Its use isn't always just the obvious way everyone else uses it. You'll be surprised by what you can do with even just a chakra scalpel after a few years of practice."_

She inhaled through her mouth and exhaled through her nose.

Her fingers trembled as she molded her chakra with no intention to mend, but to encase. She sent it through his pathway and across the artery where she held it in place. She kept her hand as still as she could - one wrong move and she would slice the artery beyond any repair. It was little more than a modified scalpel bent to serve a different purpose as a tourniquet. Once she was confident it was in place, she focused on her right hand.

Beads of sweat dripped from her face.

Slowly, she sent medical chakra into the other wound and counted in her head, _Five, four, three, two, one..._

Once she determined the lesser of the two was mended, she turned her attention back to his artery. Carefully, she placed one hand above the tourniquet and channeled the ninjutsu into his cells. They multiplied into new cells and then those multiplied and after several tense moments the tissue was well on its way to being restored. She glanced up to look at Akio and found that although he appeared delirious, he watched her as she poured her essence into saving him.

_I think he's going to be okay,_ Arashi thought to herself, almost not believing it.

There had been nothing but silence as she worked, but when she glanced over at her sensei and then at Daisuke, the tension in the air shifted to relief. She gave one nod of affirmation.

"Holy shit." Daisuke whispered.

"I'm not done yet," she refocused on her task. "But I think we're good."

She was covered in Akio's blood. How he had remained conscious even with a plasma pill was beyond her. Her clothes were ruined and the grass was stained red around them.

Then, Daisuke turned and without any dignity vomited on the ground.

Arashi's stomach clenched so hard that she lost her breath. There was something about the sound of someone emptying their stomach that always got to her. Daisuke retched again and fell to his knees. Her body shook as she dry heaved in response.

Arashi clenched her eyes shut and hissed through her teeth, "Daisuke, _stop!"_

"I'm trying!" Daisuke glared at her with tears in his eyes.

The smell of his own vomit made the boy gag again. Ibiki, stoic as ever, grabbed his nauseas student and pulled him away from the puddle so that the stench would not continue to make him sick.

"Might have to hold his hair out of his face, Sensei," Akio rasped out. "He's worse than a girl."

Daisuke sneered at the Aburame, "I wouldn't be sick like this if you hadn't gotten yourself stabbed halfway into a grave."

"Hah," Akio breathed out, "I guess."

Arashi sighed in relief when the artery's repair was finished. She stood to her feet and faced Ibiki. His jaw was clenched as he thought. He ignored the exchange between his students. The kunoichi moved to stand in front of him.

"We need to find who did this," she clenched her fists. "I think it was a shinobi. We have to catch this person before he - she, I dunno - gets away."

The Jounin nodded once, "Daisuke, stay with Akio."

The ill genin gave them a thumbs up and went back to holding his stomach.

Arashi turned and ran in the direction she felt Akio's attacker retreating earlier. Ibiki stayed a step behind her at her side. The stress from what happened made her knees weak and her feet heavy, but she pressed through it. The nerves that she suppressed while she concentrated on Akio came back with a vengeance, but instead of translating to worry she was driven by outrage.

It took a while of jumping through the trees before she caught onto the signature again. The quiet between Ibiki and herself was somehow companionable. If she had not been engulfed in tracking then she would have been torn between being enthused that her sensei had faith in her and being concerned that a _sadist_ had faith in her.

The person's trek was sloppy. Even without being a sensor type, Arashi would have been able to find the trail. There were footprints, disturbed vegetation, and even a ripped article of clothing along the way. They crossed a stream and changed their direction once.

_Wait a second..._

Several more signatures came into range and overtook the one that she and Ibiki were pursuing. Her lips thinned into a line. She was not sure whether she should be concerned or not.

_What if this person has some friends?_

"We're almost there!" Arashi announced. "But there's other people now."

Ibiki grabbed her by a shoulder and pulled her to a stop. It was so abrupt that if his grip was not as strong as it was, then she would have fallen on her face. Before she could ask what he was doing, she saw a member of ANBU signaling to her sensei. The jounin replied with the sign language that she had seen only a time or two used between the Black Ops members.

_Sometimes I forget he's one of them,_ She slipped out of his grasp and habitually tried to smooth out the creases in her now ruined shirt.

The signature of Akio's attacker flickered out.

Arashi only realized there was a lump in her throat when she tried to swallow. It was undeniably off-putting to feel someone die like that, but she felt no sense of loss. The pieces clicked together with ease now.

Akio had been attacked by a criminal. One that was likely a shinobi trying to flee Konoha to become a missing nin.

Ibiki set an eye on her and whispered, "Go back and take care of Akio. I'll be there, shortly."

She nodded and sprinted away.

Even though Akio had survived, he would need time to recover. Antibiotics were at the top of her mental list for what he would need as soon as they managed to get back to Konoha. Part of her wondered if Ibiki would want them to get the Aburame up, but he needed more time. Moving him would probably only worsen his condition until he had some time to recover.

* * *

As soon as they arrived in Konoha, they went straight to the hospital to have Akio admitted. Just as Arashi predicted, he needed medication. That tended to happen after being stabbed by a filthy kunai. Daisuke remained distant after his weak stomach humiliated him and she almost missed the banter. It was almost like white noise to her now.

The nurses took Akio away to clean him up and examine him. Ibiki left to file a report on the mission, while Daisuke settled into a seat in the waiting room. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"I'm going to stay here until he's in a room," Daisuke explained.

She opened her mouth to reply, but a nurse waved her over. She shrugged at her teammate in exasperation, but complied.

"Your father's on duty. After we're done with examining Akio and cleaning him up, he'll be taking care of him," the nurse explained.

Arashi squinted. She knew she should remember her name, but she could not. The nurses blended together after a while.

"Okay, thanks. I'm going to go talk to him," she not so smoothly excused herself and walked away.

Her father was looking over a file in his office when she cracked the door open. He smiled and the gesture touched his eyes. He put the file down and stood to greet her.

"Looks like your teammate had an unfortunate run in," he commented.

Something about the light hearted way he played it off spiked her emotions. Her eyes burned as she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around him. He wrapped her up in a hug and squeezed her against his chest.

All at once she was no longer a Genin - she was his twelve year old daughter and he adored her.

"Daddy, I was scared," she mumbled into his shirt. "There was blood everywhere and all over me."

"It's okay. I'm proud of you." He whispered into her hair. "I'm so proud of you."

Her voice shook, "Will you make sure everything's okay?"

"I'll take care of everything. Go home and relax. Take a shower and talk to your mother. We've missed you."

The only response she could muster was a sniffle.

* * *

Hours later, after she showered and changed into a comfortable set of clothing, she rummaged through the scrolls she had been studying before her mission. She set the fuinjutsu to the side with the medical jutsu and her brow furrowed in thought.

The sight of Akio nearly dying haunted her. It was not that she ever liked him or that she was even beginning to like him. She still counted him among some of the people she liked the least, but she did not want him to die or to suffer.

_How could I be useful when I'm not there to look after them?_

As she stared at the two jutsu, an idea made her nearly slap her forehead.

_That's it! A medical jutsu sealed into the body that activates when needed!_

She was elated.

_But how am I going to do that?_

Arashi sighed and looked around her room. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

Once Arashi was tired of digging through the information she had on fuinjutsu, she found her mother organizing the inventory in her store.

Naomi lit up, "How was the mission?"

Arashi crinkled her nose like she had just taken a bite out of a cow patty.

"Oh, dear, what happened?"

"Oh, first we're running around doing this ridiculous mission for this Kishi Moto guy because some competitor stole his next book-"

"Kishi Moto? _The_ Kishi Moto?" Naomi's eyes widened. "The author of Ninja Island?"

"Yeah, this next one of his is like, Ninja Island: The Last, or something ridiculous like that," Arashi waved it off, "But anyway, I either slept on the ground or the floor, barely got any decent showers or baths, had to put up with my dysfunctional team, and I didn't even get to help beat up the people that we tracked for _hours_. Then, Akio got knifed and bled all over me and everything. It was _terrible._"

"Oh," Naomi's eyebrows knit together. "Oh, honey..."

Arashi glared at her mother, but her offense was forgotten when there was a knock at the door. Daisuke stared in at them with an expression that was torn between nervous and agitated. He would not meet Arashi's questioning gaze, but waved at Naomi.

"Oh, come on in, sweet heart." Her mother ushered the boy inside.

Daisuke cleared his throat, "Well, I came to leave this here."

Arashi raised her eyebrows at him. He produced her music box and sat it down on the counter next to the register. It was now re-painted. The boy held up a finger to keep her from saying anything and wound it up.

It was no longer off tune.

"I painted it," Daisuke shrugged. "And Akio took it apart, and fixed it." He gestured awkwardly, "So, yeah, thanks for like not letting him die and stuff."

For the first time her teammates left her speechless in a good way.

After she found her voice, she asked, "Is that why you stayed in the waiting room?"

"Sure was. Why? Was it that obvious?" He sniffed. "Besides, it was tacky before we fixed it."

Arashi glowered at him.

* * *

**Just Pretend**

It seemed like a good idea at the time - after Itachi and Arashi finished their meal they were going to go to the Academy together to retrieve Sasuke and Naruto. There were no plans of a play date or anything like that. They were simply going to get their respective wannabe ninja and go their separate ways. It was a sound plan.

Until they arrived to find Iruka, their Academy Sensei, lecturing the boys after class.

"They disturbed class today by getting into a fight," Iruka explained after he collected himself for a moment. "I trust this will not become a normal behavior."

It was obvious the man had been through a rough day and was now trying to appear more in control than he had been before they arrived.

Arashi eyed him for a moment. He appeared to be around twenty or perhaps a little younger. There was a scar that ran across his face, his skin was tanned, and his brown hair was tied back. There was a stress vein that was still pulsing on his forehead. The girl chewed on her lip and glanced over at the boys.

Naruto was scuffed up a bit, but Sasuke appeared unscathed. They glared angrily at each other.

_Of course. My poor Naruto got kicked around by yet another Uchiha prodigy. The genes that clan packs around..._

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the boys and glanced over at Arashi, delicately. The look that he gave her was eloquent in its own right. His expression, albeit passive, was easily read. He was as surprised as she was over this, but he was much better at handling it. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment. She wanted to hide under a rock. Arashi had not held any fantasies about Naruto and Sasuke getting along. Whereas she had been enamored with Itachi since the day she met him in the library, the two boys had formed a strange rivalry - except it could not be considered a rivalry since one was a prodigy and the other was hardly in the running. It made her soul hurt.

"You have my apologies. I assure you, my little brother will be on his best behavior after this," Itachi broke the awkward silence.

Sasuke writhed in his seat like he had been skewered.

_Hero worship when it backfires._ Arashi almost felt sorry for the boy. _A slap on the wrist from his big brother probably feels like a kick in the nuts to him._

Naruto snickered.

Arashi's hand shot out and she caught him by the arm. His eyes went huge when she hovered over him and gave him the sternest look she could contort her face into.

"We do not laugh at other people when we're just as guilty, now do we, Naruto-kun?" She whispered.

He vigorously shook his head back and forth. There was no point in trying to run. He knew he did not possess enough strength in his body to break out of the vice that was her grip.

Arashi regarded Iruka and forced herself to smile, "Sorry about this. I'll have a talk with him."

The Chuunin instructor's serious expression faded away into a more lighthearted one, "Alright. Hopefully we can just leave this behind us, then."

"Yeah," she laughed, halfheartedly. _Probably not._

Sasuke stood and went to his brother's side, a thoroughly shamed expression on his face. Naruto stood by Arashi's side, with his lower lip stuck out in defiance. The blonde would not look at anyone. His eyes were screwed shut and his nose was held up in the air. In fact, Arashi doubted he had even noticed Itachi standing near her - or even being in the same room - between his act of _not caring_ and the glaring contest he was locked in with Sasuke.

Arashi mouthed a _"Sorry"_ to Itachi. The corners of his lips twitched and he shrugged a shoulder. There was a glint of amusement in his eyes. Once she was no longer embarrassed, she was sure she would be able to see the humor in the scene, as well, but at that moment she was mortified.

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later, Itachi-kun."

"Another time," Itachi called over his shoulder before he addressed his brother, "We should hurry or we'll be late for dinner."

The two Uchiha waved before they walked away.

"Really, Naruto," Arashi huffed. "You could've picked someone else to hate - someone not in a family that pumps out prodigies left and right."

Naruto's nose rose higher in the air.

* * *

"But he started it!" Naruto whined.

She rubbed her temples, "I know, but the best way to get back at people like that is to ignore them."

The blonde looked at her like she had grown an extra head. His child reasoning could not grasp how that would help his situation at all. Arashi had to bite her cheek to keep from grinning at how cute his expression was.

"That doesn't make sense," he mumbled. "If I want to put him in his place, then ignoring him won't do it."

"Who says you _have_ to put him in his place?"

"I do!"

"Because he made you mad?"

"Yeah!"

"I think you need to calm down, kid. My teammates make me mad every time I see them and I don't go around fist fighting with them."

"They aren't Sasuke!"

She snorted and pinched his side. He screeched and danced away from her.

It was probably a good thing that the playground was empty that evening. Naruto did not grasp what acceptable sound levels were and she was having a hard time teaching him. Currently, she was sitting at the bottom of a slide and trying to reason with the Uzumaki.

Progress was dismal.

"Just try not to fight at the Academy, okay? Avoid him if you have to."

"I'm going to get better than him." The boy stated like it was a promise.

She did not argue or disagree with him. Nothing would make her happier than to see him be successful and to rise through the ranks with ease. She just knew that it was not as easy as he thought it was.

Oftentimes, when Arashi was lost in thought or distracted she would lose track of the signatures around her. As a child it was like swimming through the sky - each star was a person - but with time she began to tune the people out to keep from overexerting her senses. It was exhausting, otherwise. Then, after not paying attention, her sixth sense would flare up all at once, much like how a person's reflexes kick in to keep them safe.

She frowned as the switch to her awareness kicked back on.

On the other side of the playground, behind a bush was her brother. At the tender age of five, she knew that their mother would not have let him out to explore on his own. Since there was no one else near him or even particularly near the park, she knew he was alone. One of the only ways he could have pulled off an escape was if he waited until their mother was busy with customers and then slipped away without a word.

Naruto waved a hand in front of her face.

She blinked, "Huh?"

"You okay, Sis?"

"Erm, yeah." She stood. "Hold on a minute."

"Uh, okay?"

He watched her take a few steps away from the slide, cross her arms and call out, "Kazika, I know you're there!"

A moment passed before the four-almost-five year old crawled out from under the plant and stared at her. He was filthy from the top of his head down to his feet. His clothes were ripped in several places and he had a bag slung over his shoulder. She could see a toy poking out of the top. He looked like a street urchin.

_Mom's gonna be pissed._

The boy marched toward her like he had been to war and back. She might have taken him seriously if he had been taller than her hip or if she did not recognize the toy in his bag as a stuffed rabbit. His size and choice of luggage stole his thunder.

He stopped in front of her, looked up, and stated in his high pitched voice, "Play with me."

"Do you know how mad Mom's going to be?" Arashi countered.

The boy shook his head back and forth, as if the gesture would make what she was saying hold no sway in their show down, "You're back now, so now we play."

"Kazika, you look diseased."

Her brother threw his bag down and thrust his arms out in a theatrical show, "I don't care!"

She was impressed.

"You'll care when Dad has to amputate all your limbs because you caught something nasty."

The boy's eyes widened, "Am'tate?"

"Amputate."

"Amp..tate?"

"Cut them off. All of them. You'll be rolling around on nubs."

Kazika held his arms in front of him and stared down at them with a look mixed with wonder and horror at the idea.

Naruto tugged on her shirt to get her attention and leaned toward her with a hand shielding his mouth as he not so quietly whispered, "Who's that?"

Kazika's attention shifted to Naruto and he stated in a way that only a jealous child could, "I'm Kazika. She's _my_ sister and she's going to play with _me_."

The blond looked like he had been stung. He pulled his hand away from Arashi's shirt and moved away from her with his eyes glued to his feet. The vulnerable slouch of his shoulders was like a punch in the throat.

She could always tell by the little things Naruto did what he had been through while she was away. He did not have any friends and few adults were kind to him. He was ostracized and shunned. The worst part about it was that it was not even his fault. She was sure it was her imagination, but she felt like she could count the times he had been driven away from normal activities, such as making friends, or socializing by adults that were afraid of the Kyuubi by the times he fidgeted.

"How about," Arashi shot a reproachful look at her brother, "We all play together?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Yeah!"

Kazika mulled the thought over for a bit before he nodded, "Let's play on the swing!"

The two boys scurried over to the swing set faster than their short legs should have allowed them to move. Arashi switched between pushing the two boys in intervals.

"Faster! Faster! Faster!" Naruto yelled. "Higher! Higher! Higher!"

His voice echoed off of everything around them. Arashi cringed, but did as he wanted.

"Me, too!" Kazika whined.

"Don't fall off." She warned before she switched over to her brother.

"I have an idea!" Naruto shouted. "Let's play ninja!"

Kazika's face crinkled up, "Ninja? I don't want to play ninja."

Naruto looked like he had been stabbed as he looked over at the other boy in shock, "Why?"

"Ninjas are too busy."

Arashi snorted, "Kazika, just _pretend_ you're a ninja. It's not the same as being a ninja."

He thought about it again, in a drawn out theatrical way before he agreed, "Okay."

"Our target..." Naruto paused for effect. "Is Arashi-chan!"

"What?" she stepped back away from the swing. "You're turning on me now?"

The two boys grinned at each other. Naruto's was sly, while Kazika's was toothy.

_Oh my._

Even if she could not be around all the time for them, it was the little things that counted the most and she was fine with that.

* * *

Alright. That's it for chapter 6. I estimate there's only about two chapters left until I begin writing Arashi's Chuunin Exam. I have a bit pre planned for that, so I'm excited to get there. :D And I apologize for any errors. I just sat here and wrote that in practically one sitting. Shewwwww


	7. A Day with Itachi

**Chapter 7**

**A Day with Itachi**

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** Arashi works on her new project and spends time with her oldest friend.

* * *

**Naruto Shippuden OST - Senya**

I just wanted to go into detail with my thanks for the reviews I have received so far. It really does mean a lot to me to know what you all think. I'm going to start including something for the people that review at the end of the chapters, just to let everyone know that I do pay attention and keep them in mind. I know a lot of people don't care to read about OCs that are inserted into fanfiction and I know I'm guilty of being very critical of them myself, so thank you to everyone who likes Arashi. I've never written a spoiled, bratty girl before and I have to say that it has been fun so far (even if I can't wait for her to grow up at times).

This chapter has a lot of Itachi and a lot of the Uchiha in it. I feel awkward and cliche when I focus on them, but I'm fond of young Itachi and his friendship with Arashi does play into development for her.

Sorry about how long this took. Busy with a new job and such.

* * *

**A Day with Itachi**

The grass tickled her skin.

Arashi shifted and settled again on her stomach on the ground. She decided on wearing a turtleneck that day. She usually chose something sleeveless because she did not like feeling restrained, but she had the day off from missions and training. It was not often that she got to wear anything other than her 'on duty' clothing.

In front of her was a stack of scrolls. She had been busy studying for weeks to find a way to put her concept into action: to seal a medical ninjutsu into a person's body to carry with them that would activate when needed. She was not sure how effective it was or if it would work the way she hoped it would in practice, but she was determined to find out. It had the potential to save the lives of many shinobi - like they had a personal medic with them, but in a limited supply.

_I haven't even gotten to live testing._

The distinct sound of sparring drew her attention away from her work and toward two Uchiha. She smiled to herself and pushed the scrolls away for a break. Itachi and Shisui were training together a short distance away. The two had a bond she almost envied, but instead of being jealous she chose to be glad they let her occasionally watch their matches.

There was something brotherly about them that was endearing. The Uchiha were undoubtedly loyal to each other - a far cry different than the members of the Hyuga clan she had seen. The pale eyed members of that clan were prisoners to their own traditions and most of them acted as little more than slaves to the head family. She had never seen them happy to further the goals of their clan. If anything, they came off as more bitter than anything.

It was like they were all caged birds.

_Maybe it's just the ones I've seen or something._

Itachi and Shisui moved so quickly that sometimes she had a hard time following all of their movements. Their chakra flared readily, and in measured bursts like it was natural to them by now - something that only advanced ninjas portrayed, except in rare examples. It made her senses tingle in excitement.

They were in the forest not far from the Uchiha compound. It was displaced enough that the sounds and smells of the city were not present with them. There was just the wind and the smell of nature it carried with it.

_I can't lay here and watch them all day if I expect to get anything done._

She shifted to sit upright and turned her attention back to her work. She almost cringed at her handwriting. It was a wonder her grades were even half as good as they were in the Academy just because of how messy it all was. Everything was orderly and organized, at the very least, even if it was hard to read.

The sound of the two boys approaching almost made her glance up for a second, but she was determined to make progress. She could not afford to be constantly distracted. Their breathing was heavy and they were covered in sweat. While Itachi's expression was passive - which was the norm for him - Shisui's eyebrows rose a little as he peered down at the scrolls.

After a moment he broke the quiet, "So, you're still working on your new project?"

"Yeah. It's not being very easy."

"What has you caught up?" Shisui shifted his position so that he could get a better look. "I mean, other than how it looks like a massacre on paper."

She glowered at him.

He held his hands up in surrender, "Just teasing! This stuff is advanced for a Genin and even for Chuunin. Most people struggle with fuinjutsu concerning stuff other than just the basics. Have you thought about conspiring with a Jounin for some help with it?"

_He's right,_ she begrudgingly admitted to herself, "But I want to accomplish this on my own. If I can finish filling in the ground work for it and successfully test it, then I'll be more confident to share it with someone else."

"I see. What's keeping you from sharing it now?"

"I don't know if it'll even work."

"Oh!" He laughed, good naturedly. "I think every jutsu starts off like that. I mean, sometime in the past someone decided they were going to breathe fire and tried until they did."

She sighed in exasperation, "I just wish not everything I'm interested in required so much work!"

"Hey, when you finally do get it working, it'll be even more gratifying because of it, right?"

"I'll probably sprout wings and fly."

"Well," He looked up at a bird circling over them. "I hope to see you fluttering over my head soon. I need to be going." He excused himself. "Good luck, Arashi-chan."

"Thanks, Shisui-kun."

"I'll see you two later," he said and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Arashi waved the smoke away. Itachi sat beside her and brushed his bangs out of his face. Some of the strands were stuck to his skin because of the sweat he worked up. He reached for his canteen but frowned when he found it empty. Wordlessly, she handed him her own. He closed his eyes in a friendly grin and drank deeply. She reached into a bag and pulled out several sticks of dango wrapped in a cloth and sat it down between them.

"I brought a snack. Have as much as you want."

He picked up a stick of dango and murmured, "Thank you."

"No problem, Itachi-kun." She flipped through her work and placed a couple scrolls in front of him. "Could you check my progress? I've never been really good at math and a lot of this is mathematical. I always have to be extra careful and continuously check over my work because of that. If one bit is off, this will either not function at all or backfire."

He swallowed a mouthful of food and took another bite as he looked over the first scroll.

"It's more complicated than I thought it was going to be at first," she admitted. "I mean, the seals have to be placed strategically through the body while being mindful of the chakra pathways. If that part is sloppy, it will throw off the medical ninjutsu, or it could be worse and mess with a person's chakra flow. It would be no good if they couldn't use their chakra, right? Furthermore, there needs to be some sort of tourniquet failsafe if an artery is damaged and those are possibly going to be _extremely_ sensitive to a person's own chakra, so the fuinjutsu for that has to be on point exactly with another failsafe, just in case."

"So, in order for this to be implemented correctly, the user has to be familiar with the target's chakra pathways, know medical ninjutsu, and be skilled in fuinjutsu?"

"Uh, basically."

The Uchiha hummed and looked over another scroll of her work.

"Once the formula checks out I have to start live testing in order to work out any other problems I didn't expect. I mean, the trigger shouldn't be hard to implement. Kind of like certain paper bombs that only go off when the target is in a certain proximity - except this fuinjutsu reacts to damaged cells around it."

She pulled some dango off a stick and popped it in her mouth. There was a headache persistently trying to make itself known in spite of how hard she was trying to ignore it. With a huff, she pulled her glasses off, sat them in the grass by her side, and laid back to look up at the sky. Her hands were dry from the books and scrolls she had been digging through, but she needed as much information as she could find. She had been working tirelessly and although there was not as much progress as she wanted, it was still coming along.

Her attention drifted over to Itachi. His dark eyes inspected every detail of her work - something that made her breathe a sigh of relief. For some reason she knew she could count on him. She always had. He saw things she did not. It was uncanny how nothing got past him.

"This will shape your career as a shinobi, Arashi-chan."

She blinked, "What? I wouldn't say anything like that. I have this distinct feeling it's going to, well, like kill the first person I put it on. If it even half works I'll be happy."

He regarded her and chuckled.

"This is why people say they don't understand you," she mumbled. "Being vague all the time. It's like you say only a fourth of what you actually think about something, if that."

"Hmm."

His expression softened and became distant.

_He's been drifting off like that more lately._ She rolled onto her side, "I'd give just about anything to get inside that head of yours."

His attention snapped back to her, "They are just thoughts. It is better to have your own than to adhere only to someone else's."

"I'm told I have more than enough thoughts and opinions. Pretty sure you're going to form some sort of terminal illness if I keep venting every little thing to you. Honestly. I probably sound crazy shallow and stupid when I get into rants. Jut once, for one of my birthdays or something I'm going to make you sit down and just talk to me. Tell me everything you think, everything you can remember. All of it."

He flicked her nose and she squealed.

"One of these days, Itachi-kun, I'm going to beat you up for that!" She jumped to her feet, rubbing her nose. "That hurts, _y'know!_"

He raised his eyebrows, innocently.

"Seriously! I'm gonna make you bleed!"

He laughed at her. Openly and in her _face._

"Oh yeah, go ahead. Laugh. I see how it is." She crossed her arms. "Just you wait. My eventual betrayal will be swift and merciless."

He stood, walked several feet away and turned to face her, "A sparring match, then?"

"Erm, what?"

"You've never sparred with me, Arashi-chan. You could use a break from reading. It will help you focus better."

"Uh."

Arashi had never sparred with Itachi for several reasons. She had never even drawn a kunai in his presence. When they were still in the Academy together, she had seen him drop kids older and more experienced than her. She was convinced he could have taken their instructors on, as well. Since he had entered ANBU he had become extremely more brutal - if Shisui was not such a skilled ninja himself, then she would have felt sorry for him since he often sparred with Itachi.

_He's going to wreck me._

"Uhhm." A bead of sweat ran down her forehead. "You sure about this?"

"Of course. My mother expects you over for dinner tonight. Shouldn't you work up an appetite first?"

"Okay." She swallowed over a lump in her throat, "Just, uh, be gentle? I'm just a genin level medic. Combat really isn't my thing."

He grinned, boyishly, "Are you ready?"

She pulled her hair away from her face and quickly braided it to keep it from getting in her way. Her glasses were going to stay on the ground beside her scrolls. The last thing she needed to do was break them while being badly beaten by her friend.

_Lightning on your feet, Arashi. Lightning on your feet._ She shifted her stance, "As ready as I'll ever be!"

He closed his eyes and opened them to reveal the sharingan.

"That's _cheating!_"

He threw two shuriken so fast she didn't even notice - until her left sleeve separated from the rest of the shirt and fell on the ground. Her mouth dropped open and she looked up at him with wide eyes. Blood ran down her arm and seeped into her glove.

He gave her a pointed look.

_Crap, crap, crap! Move!_

Her legs felt like limp noodles, but she managed to throw herself into a run. She was a medic, not a fighter. Her role was to support, evade, and analyze. In no way would she have been advised to enter into direct combat with anyone if it could be helped.

She made for the cover offered by the trees.

Itachi remained behind her. She knew his signature just as well as she knew the signatures of her parents. If he moved, she would know it, unless he had a secret way to cloak his chakra. If he could manage to do that, then she had nothing to use against him. There was no time for her to set up fuinjutsu traps, paper bombs were more dangerous than anything she wanted to utilize against a friend, and she knew no offensive jutsu.

Without a team or someone to work with, she was basically defenseless.

_Okay, so he's following at a distance-_

Two kunai flashed by her and her right sleeve slid off her arm - followed by blood running down and filling up her other glove.

"You can't be serious!"

Then again, he was so fast and well trained in tracking that she really stood no chance, anyway.

* * *

Arashi walked beside Itachi through the compound. She looked down at her torn sleeves and pouted. It had been a mistake to wear a turtleneck that day. Then again, she did not expect to be talked into _training_ with Itachi. Not that it was really training. It was more like a failed attempt at hide and seek in which she never managed to hide.

_Doesn't matter how expensive the clothing is - no shirt will stand up to shuriken. Or kunai._

She imagined it went just about as well as Naruto's fights with Sasuke. Not a speck of dust on Itachi, whereas she looked like she just got back from an enthusiastic walk in the middle of a hurricane.

Arashi clenched her fists and shuddered when her fingers squished audibly in the bloody gloves. She had been able to wash the blood off her arms, but her gloves were a lost cause. They were the pair that she wore when she became a Genin. Maybe she was sentimental, but it bothered her to get rid of them now.

_Here I am, fussing over clothes. What kind of ninja am I? This is embarrassing._

She looked up and forced the pout from her face. Itachi had a few of her scrolls cradled in his arm. Like she had wanted him to, he looked over all of them before they left the solitude of the forest for the compound. He had a great eye for detail.

The compound was a testament to the clan's pride. They had been a part of Konoha since the founding and the country owed much of its strength and prestige to them. All of the clan members wore the telltale fan on their back and even the walls bore the symbol.

Most of the members had a natural affinity with fire.

_I wonder if that's why they named our country after fire? Are they the flames that dance behind the leaves or does it just apply to the Will of Fire? Or does it apply to everyone who lives in this country?_

Itachi plucked a leaf out of her hair and let it fall to the ground. The corners of his lips twitched up into a slight smile, but he seemed distracted.

_He's often distant, but he seems more tired now. It's probably ANBU._

Arashi frowned. She did not want to even think about the things he had to do for the Black Ops. She just hoped it was not like what Ibiki did.

"Itachi-kun, Arashi-chan!"

A stout Uchiha woman approached them with a wide smile on her face. In one hand she held a broom, the other was on her hip. Arashi recognized the woman as Uruchi. On the other side of their shop her husband, Teyaki, was in a chair with a newspaper in front of his face. The smell of senbei made her mouth water.

"Uruchi-san," she used her most familiar smile - she picked it up from her mother who used it when greeting customers she liked - and lifted her hand in a wave, "How have you been? Teyaki-san?"

"Oh, we've been doing well. What about you? I haven't seen you around in a while." She cooed. "I remember when the two of you were just little things, shorter than my hip. You'd both come here all the time for some senbei. Don't tell me you forgot all about us?"

"Never!" She gave the older Uchiha woman a quick hug. "I'm lucky I didn't get fat on those senbei of yours. Just busy with missions and training, really."

"Busy growing up." She sighed, wistfully. "Both you and Itachi-kun. Makes me feel old."

"You're lovely." Arashi replied, reflexively. "Worrying will make you wrinkle up and turn gray."

Itachi disguised a chuckle by clearing his throat.

_Crap. I sound like my mother now._

"Hah! Would you two like some senbei?"

"Ah, no, just on our way to eat dinner soon." Arashi replied. "But thank you-"

Itachi pulled some ryou out of his pocket and handed it to Uruchi. The exchange was quick and in seconds Arashi was holding several senbei wrapped in a napkin.

"Now, you two go along and come back to visit soon!" The woman waved.

"I'll try," Arashi called over her shoulder.

She handed one of the senbei to Itachi. It struck her as odd that Teyaki did not even look up at her, other than a quick glance. As a child, she distinctly remembered climbing in his lap - she did not have boundaries - and that he seemed to like her. Everywhere she looked she recognized faces that now paid little attention to her. They were cold; almost distrusting. She had laughed with some of them and had conversations with others, but now it was like she did not belong.

The compound was feeling less like the place she used to escape to for a evening of play with Itachi and more like a place sectioned away from the rest of the village.

_Almost like segregation. And, also.. everyone's being so cold._

The signatures of the clansmen were not as warm as they were before. She could not tell if it was gradual or sudden, but now they felt different. Darker. Itachi was as bright and gentle as always - a special flame - but not even he could illuminate the compound.

It was like looking up into the sky expecting to see an ocean stars, but instead there was only one in the darkness.

_It's just my imagination. A cold stare here is like a loving caress or something. These Uchiha.._

The persistent headache from before throbbed back into her attention. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. It was hard, but she tried to push away her thoughts and block out her sensory. Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder and frowned in concern.

"Is the headache from our match?"

"Pfft. That wasn't a match. It was just me running." Arashi snorted. "It'll probably go away when I eat."

"Have a senbei." he gestured at the untouched food wrapped up in her free hand. "You used to like them."

"Mother hen." she murmured and took a bite.

Words could not express how grateful she was to feel his warmth in that cold place.

* * *

Arashi would normally describe herself as intelligent, well educated, determined, and confident (while her teammates would describe her as nosy, bossy, over dramatic and moody). Normally, she would be nose deep in some sort of text or helping piece someone back together. That was how her life had been and that was what she was comfortable with. She was well aware what her definition of normal was when in regards to herself.

Normally, she would _not_ be sitting across a table from Fugaku Uchiha, trying to make small talk.

It took all of her concentration to keep her hands from shaking. Simple things were suddenly an obstacle. The moment she sat in front of that table, she forgot etiquette and exactly how to eat. Her left cheek twitched. She tried biting it, but it did not help.

At that moment she was having a hard time stringing sentences together without it sounding sloppy or forced.

"So yeah," she laughed, weakly. "The ANBU in the interrogation ward kind of took my team under their care sort of like a group effort, I guess. Ibiki-sensei is sometimes busy with, uh, work for a long time, so one of the other members of the Black Ops will sometimes try to teach us something useful. It's not all the time or anything, but yeah.." She faltered and poked at her food. "It's probably just to keep us from getting into stuff we're not supposed to see."

His expression hardly shifted, "How amusing."

_Well, I mean, he does look tired. Probably a busy day at the Police Force headquarters or something. I also suck at telling stories, so I guess I should be happy I didn't bore him to tears._

There was an assertiveness about Fugaku's presence that she could not help but admire. The head of the Uchiha clan was enigmatic to her. Arashi had a feeling that he did not approve of her friendship with his eldest son, but tolerated it. Their meet ups did not interfere with any of Itachi's work, so there was not much to be said about it.

She might not have been one of the elite like his son, but she was far from the bottom of the barrel.

_ Am I sitting too close to Itachi?_ She glanced from the corner of her eye to check the distance from herself and her friend. _Okay, I guess this is okay. Don't want them think I'm being clingy or something._

Itachi looked at her from the corner of his eye and then down at his food once again.

_I guess he can tell I'm uncomfortable. I don't know why I'm a ball of nerves today. I just get so nervous around Fugaku._

Arashi's thoughts shifted back to their walk and how perturbing it was to be stared at like an unwelcomed stranger. She was not sure what to think of the experience.

Her cheek twitched again, _I bet there's food on my face._

"Well," Mikoto smiled, pleasantly, "How has your mother been doing, Arashi-chan?"

Arashi swallowed her rice without chewing, "Good. Very good. Stays busy."

"And Kazika-chan?"

"He's a weird kid." She grinned down at her food. "Weird, but sweet."

Sasuke cleared his plate quickly and sat with his attention divided between his father and his brother. Neither of which were speaking much. Arashi felt like the boy hardly even noticed her presence.

Not that she could judge. She had her own heroes when she was his age, too. Arashi still had a long lock of red hair tucked away in her room. At first after the Kyuubi incident, it pained her to look at it, but with time she came to remember only the good things.

"Is he interested in becoming a shinobi? You and your father seem to find the career agreeable?" Mikoto continued.

Arashi laughed, "He has a limited vocabulary, but a good portion of it is made up by 'ninjas work too much' and similar complaints. I guess where I'm gone all the time and Dad's a workaholic, it makes him think it wouldn't be rewarding enough or something."

Fugaku spoke for the first time that evening without being spoken to first, "A good work ethic is priceless. He'd do well to follow after your father. Ookami-san is skilled and very dedicated."

"Yeah," she grinned in agreement. "He's great at what he does. My little brother will come around, I think. He's still too young to really understand much."

Sasuke tilted his head to one side and regarded her, "How old is he?"

"Almost five."

The boy crossed his arms over his chest, "I knew I was going to be a ninja when I was that old."

"Well, sometimes it takes people a little longer to decide what they want to be when they grow up," Arashi replied.

"I guess," he mumbled.

_He doesn't have a mother that's a civilian like my mom. It's easier to imagine just being a person and not a shinobi when you live with someone who's perfectly happy just living._

Sasuke perked up, "Hey, brother, will you play with me when you're done eating?"

"Not tonight," Itachi replied. "I need to rest for a mission tomorrow."

The boy pouted. "Alright."

It was cute to see Itachi and Sasuke interact with each other. Mikoto watched them, fondly. For a second Arashi wondered if she would ever be like that - a retired Jounin in love with her family - or if she would focus on her career until the day she died.

Mikoto looked away from her children and at Arashi, "It's good to have you over. You'll have to come over again for dinner, soon."

"Of course. I'd love to."

There was a strange nagging at the back of her mind that things had changed and not just with age. She tried not to focus on it, but it worried her. She knew these people and she could tell that there was something wrong. At the very least, Itachi's immediate family was not treating her any differently.

Arashi looked at a clock and sighed, "It's almost time for me to leave. Let me help you with the dishes before I have to go. I have to meet my sensei early in the morning."

"Oh? So soon?" Mikoto frowned. "Don't worry about the dishes. There's not that many."

Itachi took his plate to the sink and looked at his friend over his shoulder, "I'll walk you home."

Sasuke's pout deepened, but he did not say anything.

* * *

They did not speak as they walked.

Most of the time when they were accompanying each other through the streets to a destination, they did not speak. He was quiet in nature and despite common belief, she did get tired of talking on occasion. This time, though, the silence was not peaceful.

She glanced at him a few times and almost brought up what she felt, but each time she decided against it.

_Surely, he knows already?_

When they made it to her home, she gave him a brief hug, "I would give just about anything to know what goes on in your thoughts."

She released him and disappeared inside. There was a guarded sadness in his eyes as she closed the door.

* * *

Thanks to everyone for reading this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions, criticisms, or opinions then share them in a review. All input is welcome! Next chapter will have shenanigans in the ANBU HQ with Arashi's squad mates.

* * *

Well, I'm going to backtrack a little to take notice of some of the reviews.

**Juliedoo** \- Thank you! I plan on really pushing Arashi as a medic ninja. The concept of being a healer in Naruto fascinates me, so I'd like to showcase it a lot more than the manga and anime did (there's a lot more focus on fighting than focus on healing). It's a bit challenging and I'm not always sure if I'm portraying it well. The seal that activates when someone needs healing was the first thing I came up with for the character, believe it or not. Even before the name. Other seals will follow, but that's for later. Getting this one to work will be hard enough for part 2. Also, I feel like people like the little kids better than they like Arashi. xD

**Be-Mindful** \- I love your reviews. I really try to show Arashi as a kid that's growing into being a ninja and that means showing her life, even if the scenes are silly or seem pointless. It's harder to write missions because it takes time to think of the plot and execution, as well as character development and such. I'm glad that you liked the mission and that you enjoyed Daisuke and Akio (I'm paranoid that they're not very enjoyable characters). I enjoyed writing the music box scenes and let's just say it turns up later, as well. I will be more careful and meticulous about any of the combat scenes in order to keep from confusing people, so thanks for the criticism on that, as well. xD

**TamashinoSuzume** \- Arashi and Naruto are fun to write.

**Storytellerlover** \- I'm glad you enjoy it! haha the name references happened because of a joke I made to a friend. I was not sure what to name the characters, so yeah.

**JustHope** \- It makes me happy that you enjoy the concept. I've put a lot of time and thought into how I wanted to go about doing this fanfiction. The older she gets, the more I'll be able to show a mixture of triumphs and failures, regrets and experiences, goals and determinations.


	8. Shenanigans

**Chapter 8: Shenanigans**

Ahhh! Once again I feel that I have to apologize for the span of time I've been absent without updating! I will do something about that. haha For everyone who has been hanging in and checked back, thank you. :) Also, I know I mentioned her Chuunin exam coming soon, but I will be pushing it back a little. Expect to see her in the Exam in chapter 11. I'm dying to write it. I've had plans for it since before I began writing part 1 of this fic. Part 2 will end shortly after the Uchiha massacre and then on to part 3.

* * *

**Songs** \- _The Rosebuds - Nice Fox, and Naruto Shippuden OST - Strangeness. _

* * *

**Chapter Summary** \- _Naruto's pranks and repercussions, as well as shenanigans in the Intelligence Division._

* * *

**Shenanigans**

Naruto was not the smartest child in his class.

No one would have argued against that statement. He was not the most talented, he was not the strongest, he was not the fastest, and he struggled with even some of the more basic concepts. None of the other kids wanted to be his friend. From that stemmed the defense mechanism to lash out first and think about it later. His mouth was too big for his body, as most people that came across him found out. It was the only way he knew how to defend himself against the treatment of those around him.

The young Uzumaki had more guts than anyone in his class.

That was both a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that he never gave up and he threw his whole heart into what he was doing. Bad in that he lacked the proper guidance most of the time to channel his energy accordingly. Although there had been some attempts made by a select few people to guide the boy, it was like trying to direct a hurricane. Naruto needed a heavy, but tender hand and that hand needed to be ever present in order to keep him out of trouble.

Despite the growing belief that the boy was stupid, Naruto was actually very clever.

His mischievous tendencies reminded many people of a certain Uzumaki woman's youth and her fondness of pranks, but those memories were more often than not overshadowed by thoughts of a demon waiting with bated breath to wreak havoc again. The looks of disgust and hatred were like a brand that seared into the boy's heart. He could not remember a time he did anything bad enough to earn their scorn. It hurt in a way he did not know how to stress with words, but the people that looked at him like he was nothing or the ones that denied to acknowledge his existence were the worst.

Those were the ones that cut him to his soul.

Whether it was a lack of impulse control or entirely premeditated, Naruto stood in front of a vandalized building with a bucket of paint beside him. The store owner was going to be furious. The boy knew he should not have done that, but this particular man had given him one of _those_ looks and the memory of it stung. At the very least, this day the store owner would acknowledge him and not walk past him like he was nothing.

All thoughts of repercussion thrown into the wind, the boy stood there with a grin that spanned from one ear to the other.

That was how Arashi found him.

She stared with wide eyes at the scene in front of her. There were offensive terms and pictures painted all over the building. Neither of the two spoke a word to each other. He watched her, his feet frozen to the spot, and waited to see what her reaction would be. The boy had never pushed her before and a mixture of fear and fascination filled him.

Would she look at him like everyone else did?

Every single person in his life before that was supposed to be something to him had left without him pushing them. They left without him giving them a reason to leave. Without him fully understanding why he had done this, he hoped she could understand.

The kunoichi squinted down at him and pulled in a ragged breath, "What are you still doing here after you wrecked this place? Run, _y'know!_"

Two blue eyes bulged out at her, "Sis?"

It was at that time that the store owner decided to step outside for a quick smoke break and the calm before the storm shattered. He let out a shout of shock, looked around, saw the bucket of paint - saw Naruto covered in afore mentioned paint - and all the dots connected together to form one huge explosion of rage. He threw his cigarette down and stormed toward them, his fists clenched by his sides and a vein in his forehead threatening to burst if it bulged anymore.

Naruto squealed in terror.

_Great. Just great._

Arashi squared herself and stepped between the cowering child and the man. This was not the first time she had faced off with a grown man over Naruto and she knew it would not be the last. It did not help her case that the boy was obviously guilty and that he already had a bad reputation.

Through the shouts of anger, demands of reparation, and flailing gesticulation Arashi figured out what his name was, "Fuji-san, I know you're angry and you have every right to be angry, but he's just a kid and kids do crazy stuff sometimes."

"That brat is hell bent on ruining this village! This isn't the first time he's vandalized someone else's property!"

Arashi gagged inwardly. Her ears rang painfully and she was fairly certain her face had a nice coat of spit on it from the amount of shouting that was aimed at her face. She had heard rumors about him doing this before, but she was not around for it. This was the first time she was a witness to one of his more destructive _pranks._

"I'll talk to him and we'll both do whatever is necessary to fix th-"

"Getting rid of that _thing_ is the only thing that will fix this!"

All thought of being civil went out the window and Arashi grabbed a fist full of the man's shirt and pulled him down to her level, "His name is _Naruto_ and he is not a _thing_."

"I'll be Hokage someday, you know!" The boy declared from behind her. "And then everyone will acknowledge me!"

She grit her teeth, "You're not helping the situation!"

"Huh?!"

"Why do you even care about this kid? He's never going to be anything but a failure." He spat the words out like they were venom. "You shouldn't waste your time on him."

Arashi pulled him even farther down until their noses were almost touching, "I think you need to re-think what you just said, Fuji-san."

Unbeknownst to the kunoichi, three members of the Police Force turned down that street on their daily patrol. It was a normal route for them to pass through and they were right on time that day. She was so caught up in resisting the urge to pummel the storeowner that she did not notice Naruto's quiet warnings or the signature of the Uchiha closing in on her location.

Uchiha Fugaku made a point to make himself seen by the citizens of Konoha. An ever present Police Force was a much more efficient deterrent to crime than one that kept to itself and he realized that by taking things into his own hands he could build rapport with Konoha. He was an efficient leader.

Fugaku stared at the scene for a few seconds. It was not every day that a twelve year old girl had a grown man at her mercy, let alone one that he knew. Arashi went still and quiet as soon as she noticed him. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Naruto was still there to find that he had bailed out on her at some point.

_Thanks, kid. Nice to know you have my back when it counts._ She mentally grumbled to herself.

Another member of the Police Forced crossed his arms and threw a flippant expression at her.

At a loss for what to do, she smiled sheepishly, "H-how are you today, Fugaku-san? This just sort of, uhm, happened."

He raised an eyebrow just a fraction - she had seen that same gesture in Itachi - and she looked over at her fist to see that she still had the storeowner by his shirt. She released him with a cough and covered her burning face with her hands. Fuji-san immediately turned toward Fugaku and gave his account of the situation. Arashi wanted to intervene at several points, but realized every word that came out of her mouth would only serve to dig her into a deeper pit.

Fugaku motioned for his two subordinates to go on their own way, "I'll take care of this, Fuji-san. We'll see to it that your store is restored to its previous state and I will deal with this kunoichi and her family. I will bring the issue with Naruto to Hokage-sama's attention and he will deal with the child as he sees fit."

The man's red face relaxed and he dug out another cigarette, "Alright. As long as you do."

"You have my word."

Fuji-san nodded and walked away to regain his composure before he re-entered his store to continue the day. Arashi was thankful that the ordeal had not caught the attention of a crowd of people, but that did not help the humiliation she felt from being in the situation in the first place.

"You have some explaining to do."

She stared down at her feet, "Yeah."

"And some cleaning."

She cringed, "I guess so."

"You can do both at the same time."

Before long she was scrubbing paint off the store and giving the Uchiha her account of the ordeal. The way that he watched her as she worked made her nervous. She did not think she would be in any _serious_ trouble from any of this, but she worried what he would do after she was finished. Her parents would be less than understanding about it, but they would manage. The Hokage had a soft spot for Naruto for reasons that were illegal to discuss.

_I just hope he doesn't lock me up in the Police Force HQ over night to get any points across._ She frowned. _I'm already going to be late meeting up with my team today._

"Naruto is a complicated ordeal."

Arashi blinked and glanced over at him, "Yeah. He is."

"It's commendable that you try to be there for him, but if he continues this behavior then the connection you have with him will make others view you in a negative light," Fugaku continued, "And from what I've seen you care about your career more than most kunoichi do at your age."

Her hands stilled and a chill ran up her spine. He was right.

"I would hate to see that happen to you early in your career. You have potential and you have your father's support. Ookami-san does good work and it would be good if you followed after his example."

She swallowed over the lump in her throat, "I can't just abandon him. He's like a little brother to me."

"I didn't say abandon, though that has its wisdom." Fugaku closed the distance between them with a few long strides and took her wrist in his hand, "Even now you are paying for his actions. It may not be so severe now, but with time it will get worse." He released her. "Next time, let him pay. Some people cannot learn if they do not pay their own consequences."

Her lips trembled, "Why are you saying all this? You hardly even speak to me."

"Maybe I'm feeling sentimental today," he gave her a crooked grin, "But when I look at you, I think about Itachi. He's my boy and he's been a pleasure to watch grow, but I don't understand him. You're the only friend he has that I know of, other than Shisui. Because of that, I have watched you grow up to this point, as well. My son has invested something in you and I would rather see you find success than failure."

She looked down at her feet again, "Thanks for the advice."

"Think on it," he took a step back. "I'm going to go have a word with your father and with the Hokage. I trust you will finish this?"

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere until I've gotten everything."

"Good."

* * *

Arashi's hands were chafed, sore, and stained with paint as she ran across the village and toward the Intelligence Division. She was late for her team's meeting. She had never been late to one before and neither had her teammates. She would have sooner stabbed herself in the leg than make Ibiki wait for her. He was a busy man and he had a lot of sensitive and important things to take care of, so time was a precious resource.

If that was not enough to put her in a foul mood, Fugaku's words and the truth in them threw her over the edge.

_I'll never turn my back on Naruto. Not in a million years. Pompous duck-butt._

She smiled nervously at the ANBU members she passed as she walked through the hallways toward Ibiki's office. She felt Daisuke and Akio there (as well as a dispersion of his Kikaichu), while Ibiki was away in another room. From her calculations, it was one of the interrogation rooms. He must have been busy with someone, then.

She released a sigh of relief.

If he was busy, then he would not have much to say about her being late that day. Not that it was necessarily her fault. A whiskered, blue eyed blond was the culprit.

As soon as she entered the room, Daisuke waved at her and placed a finger to his lips. She squinted at him. He pointed over at Akio and her mouth formed an O. The wall beside the Aburame was covered in Kikaichu. In fact, there were insects all over the office. A trail of them led outside the room, in a sparse trail into the hallway.

She threw a curious look at Daisuke to find that he was scribbling away at a scroll near her. She leaned over and got a look at what he was doing and her eyebrows shot up when she saw that he was working on a jutsu. Another glance over at Akio led her to the revelation that they were up to something. It was better to be busy while their sensei was busy than to waste time.

"What are you doing?" she whispered to Daisuke.

"Shh. You'll see soon." He shooed her away. "Akio, how long until the shift change?"

"Ten minutes."

She crossed her arms, "Okay, what's up?"

"So nosy." Daisuke sighed dramatically, "Akio figured out one of the new recruits in the ward is a total push over-"

_Leave it to Akio to figure out who the vulnerable one is._

"-so, since Ibiki is busy, we decided we'd practice some jutsu, find this guy and get him to show us some stuff. He's new so we should be able to pressure him into it."

"I feel like I should object," Arashi grinned, "But this sounds pretty cool. What's the plan?"

"Okay, so Akio's been using his Kikaichu to keep up with people since you were late, so he's keeping up with everyone's patrols and the intervals and stuff."

She nodded.

"With you here, we'll have a lock down on people's locations and proximity." He continued, "Now, since this place is like a bee hive and there are people always here, I figured we'd need some camouflage. It's better that people have no reason to question us than if we have a good excuse."

"There's not much excuse for a Genin team to be running around the Intelligence Division, no matter how you spin it," Arashi mumbled. "We can't get caught."

"Exactly." He tapped the desk next to his scroll. "So, I figured I'd test out this genjutsu I've been working on for a while."

"Alright. What does it do?"

"Well," he eyed her, "Normally I think you'd complain since it requires me painting the jutsu onto our bodies, but since you're already covered in paint for some reason-"

"Yeah, well," she interrupted him, "How long until you can have your jutsu ready?"

"A few minutes," He pulled out several brushes and canisters of paint. "Assuming you're not ticklish and you don't squirm."

She gave him a flat look.

Daisuke worked quickly and the strokes of his brush were on point. Within a few minutes, his jutsu was painted across her arms, torso, legs, and face. The paint was imbued with a dense amount of chakra. She watched him finish up with Akio and then add a few last touches to the jutsu on himself. It fascinated her to see genjutsu channeled through a medium like paint.

"Okay, so," Arashi's lips thinned into a line. "Should we leave some clones in here or something? Just in case someone looks in here?"

"Duh." Daisuke looked at her like she was daft.

She glared at him, but did not pursue an argument. They settled for nasty looks, instead.

"We should hurry," Akio interrupted them.

They each made a clone and left them in their place. Daisuke grabbed Arashi's right sleeve and Akio's left. Her breath caught in her throat when she felt his chakra wash over her own and encase her body.

"What will this do, again?"

"Basically make us invisible," Daisuke whispered.

"Oh."

When they stepped into the hall it was time for the shift change.

In order to keep from leaving an opening in their ranks, their shift change was done in intervals. Not everyone left at once. It was staggered and everyone was supposed to be aware of their surroundings. The Intelligence Division was integral to the safety of their hidden village and precautions had to be taken. If not for their connection with Ibiki, Arashi's squad would not have been allowed inside the building, let alone left unsupervised in an office.

Everything in the Division was serious. The color scheme was gray, white, and more gray. There was nothing cheery to be seen. More often than not, the members worse their masks even when there were no civilians in sight, so there was not even a sense of familiar camaraderie. At least not at first glance.

When the first ANBU member exited a room and walked next to them as they made their way down the hallways, it made Arashi's knees weak. Her heart hammered against her ribs in a sickening rhythm. If they got caught, they would be in immense trouble. Three pairs of anxious eyes bore into the mask of the Black Ops member. They were each as pale as if they had seen a ghost, but the thrill of the adventure kept them on course.

In one of the rooms they were approaching, she felt a signature moving toward the door. She tugged on Daisuke's arm and moved for them to shift to the left. Quietly, they stepped in unison to the left and narrowly avoided brushing into another member as he stepped out. The two members walked wordlessly together.

Arashi always got similar impressions from a seasoned ANBU; bloody hands and heavy consciences. If the opportunity to join the Black Ops ever presented itself to her - not that she thought she would ever be good enough - she knew she would decline. She did not possess the heart, the determination, or the will to engage in a life style as hard and demanding as theirs.

A lot of them seemed more like husks than people.

Each of the Genin stepped as lightly as they could as they followed them. They watched the two elite shinobi, each with their breath held until they turned and walked down a different hall. They continued that routine until they found their way into the archive section and into a room with a single member.

He looked to be in his twenties. His hair was brown and cut short. He wore a standard ANBU uniform, but for some reason he had taken his mask off and laid it to the side. He sat in front of a computer with his chin resting in one of his palms as he watched some video footage.

"Watching paint dry on a wall would be better than this," he mumbled.

_And that's definitely the rookie._

Daisuke grinned at his teammates and released the jutsu.

The rookie squealed when the young shinobi appeared around him. His hand flew to a kunai and he rolled out of his seat and across the room for distance. His expression turned from surprise to annoyance when he saw that his would be attackers were not assailants at all. Instead of people out to steal the country's most sensitive secrets, it was three Genin - all of them covered in paint.

"You've got to be kidding," he muttered and slid his kunai back into a holster. "Do you know how much trouble I could get you kids into?"

Arashi mustered her best look of ignorance and tilted her head to one side. Daisuke laughed and waved the warning off. Akio crossed his arms across his chest and stared the rookie down.

"I have never felt like I've been taken less seriously than I do now."

Daisuke nudged Arashi.

_I guess it's my move._ She took the rookie's hand in her own and stared up at him with puppy dog eyes, "ANBU-san, could you show me a trick or two?"

"Whoa, I've got stuff that I need to do. I can't go running around teaching you guys stuff."

"But," she pouted. "Didn't you just say you were bored?"

A look of embarrassment passed over his face, "Yeah, but-"

Daisuke threw his arm around the man's shoulders - which was an accomplishment with their difference in height - and said, "C'mon, man. Ibiki sensei's busy and we need something to do. You looked like a cut above some of these other guys."

The man looked from the girl that had his hands - her grip was unreal - and then at the boy with his arm around his shoulders, "Yeah, but this is against protocol."

Akio unfolded his arms and stalked forward, "The others usually show us something."

_Nice lie._

The rookie stared at the Aburame for a moment. Akio was unmoving. It was like trying to stare down a stone wall. He was not a normal twelve year old boy in that aspect.

"I just don't think-"

Arashi's attention shifted over to the computer screen, "What's that?"

"Nothing!" The rookie's free hand shot out and he paused the footage, "Okay, fine, what do you want? It has to be quick!"

"Oh!" Arashi glanced at her teammates. "How about your secret sign language stuff? Ibiki's only shown us a little here and there."

"That won't be quick."

"Just a lesson!" Daisuke agreed with Arashi. "I think that would be cool. Huh, Akio?"

Akio grunted.

"Well, um, okay." The rookie detangled himself from the genin and took his seat back. "Okay, everyone pay attention."

To Arashi's surprise, the rookie was a patient teacher. He explained what each sign meant and waited until each of his impromptu students understood before he went on to the next. Fortunately, the team in front of him were quick learners, as well. A smile even lit up his face a time or two, even though he tried to hide the fact that he was happy to have something else to do other than staring at old footage.

_It's actually kinda nice to do stuff like this with Akio and Daisuke._

Arashi blinked.

Ibiki was no longer in the interrogation room.

All three of their clones were destroyed at the same time.

Ibiki was on his way toward their location.

"Guys." Her voice was high pitched with panic.

Akio and Daisuke were on their feet in a flash.

_Should we run? _Arashi chewed on her lip and stared at her teammates with wide eyes. _No! That'll just make him madder than he will be already._

The rookie caught on to their behavior, "Oh, he on his way here?"

The Genin nodded in unison.

"Have fun with that." He smiled and turned around to watch the footage. "We'll just say I've been supervising you three so you wouldn't get into anything?"

"Okay." Daisuke agreed. "I guess."

The doorknob turned and Ibiki stepped inside to find each of his students staring at him, sheepishly. They were covered in paint.

"I don't want to know." Ibiki sighed. "Anyway, I have a project for all of you. Come on, we don't have all day. It's about time you observed an interrogation all the way through. Pay attention, because I will be quizzing you."

* * *

"Ohhh, I'm going to throw up."

"Don't you dare, Daisuke!" Arashi hissed. "He hasn't even touched any of his tools yet!"

"This is the first time Ibiki sensei has consented to let us watch a full interrogation," Akio deadpanned. "Instead of fighting you should be observing."

Daisuke looked up from the bucket that he was holding against his chest, "Yeah, well, he was going for the weird pronged one that shocks when you squeeze th-th-"

He dry heaved and Arashi's eyes watered.

"You guys suck."

"I didn't do anything." Akio reminded her.

She stuck her nose up in the air, "I don't care right now. Make Daisuke stop doing that."

Akio ignored her, "Sensei isn't even touching him with anything. He's using intimidation."

Arashi sighed and leaned against a wall. They were in an observation room, behind a window. They could see into the interrogation room and hear what was being said, but the other side could not hear or see them. With Daisuke sick and Arashi heaving along with him, it was probably a good thing.

The guy that was tied to the chair in the next room was holding up better than two of the Genin. Arashi did not know who he was, what his name was, or why he was in there. She was curious about what he did to land himself in Ibiki's hands, but she had a feeling her team was pushing their limits with just observing. Short of being a member of ANBU, not many were privy to what went on in the interrogation ward and even then the two branches kept a form of "need to know" basis in many situations.

"What made you late today, anyway?" Daisuke mumbled.

Arashi tensed, "Nothing."

Two pairs of eyes focused on her.

"I almost got arrested." She held her hands up and announced, sarcastically, "Shenanigans!"

* * *

Once Ibiki released her team for that evening, the first thing she did was track Naruto down. She found him in a part, alone on a swing. His eyes widened when he saw her approaching.

Arashi spoke before he got a chance, "Look, I'm not mad at you, but I am a little disappointed."

He looked away from her and his lips trembled.

She took a deep breath and channeled her best 'mom' voice, "There's nothing and there's no one that will make me give up on you, so you don't have to worry about anything like that, okay, kid? I just don't want you to destroy your future before you even get a chance. You need to be better than these people and that means not retaliating like a little punk and painting up the town - even if it's kinda funny at the time, alright?"

He nodded.

"I'm on your side," she hoped he understood that she meant it. "But I don't want to get stuck cleaning up your messes, okay?"

He jumped off the swing, hugged her, and cried into her stomach, "I'm sorry, Sis!"

Arashi had not felt that small in a long time.

* * *

Arashi had a bit to explain when she made it home late that evening. Her father sat at the kitchen table with her mother.

Ookami discarded the newspaper he had been reading, "So, I got a visit from Fugaku-san earlier."

Arashi froze, "Yeah?"

"He told me what happened to Fuji-san's store and how you were involved in the ordeal. I understand that you feel the need to be there for him since he's never really had that in his life, but when it comes down to it I value you more as my daughter and I don't want anything negative taking root because of that boy."

Her eyes stung with tears, "I'm sorry, daddy. He's just a kid and he doesn't know any better."

As always, the first sign of tears from his daughter derailed the medic nin from his initial purpose and he was backtracking in seconds. Naomi rolled her eyes at the spectacle. After a while they went back to the lecture. It was long, but they meant well and they were gentle with their words.

She just hated how it echoed what Fugaku had told her earlier that day.

* * *

Alright, once again I will include a little something for my reviewers down here at the bottom. You guys are great! :D

**DarkNexus4050**: I spend too much time analyzing the characters in this series. Sometimes bits and pieces of that bleed into Arashi's observations. . Part 3 and 4 she'll notice a lot more. It'll help to show off her analytical nature and Ibiki's influence on his team. Also, in no life will Arashi ever be able to face off with Itachi, so it had to be more of an evasion, gorilla tactics attempt (didn't get that far). haha

**TamashinoSuzume**: I'm a sucker for foreshadowing. lol I'm glad you like Arashi as much as you do. :) I've tried to make her a bit different than the run of the mill (even though I realize I ended up throwing rarer things at her such as fuinjutsu and sensory, but oh well!) mary sue. I hope you like the Naruto scene at the beginning of this chapter!

**True Guardian Angel**: Thanks for the review! I hope you continue to enjoy this.

**534667lc**: Thank you for taking the time to review. Here's an update (finally! Also, sorry about how long this took.. next one will be out much sooner, hopefully). I'm glad you've liked it up to this point. :)

* * *

Alright, thanks to everyone for reading this chapter. If you have any opinions, criticisms, feedback, or anything - please share them in a review. I love all kinds of feedback. :)


	9. Ambitions

**Chapter 9**

Shew! I meant to have this out Monday or Tuesday, but I got busy. Please look over any silly typos. :D Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and followed! Not much longer until the Chuunin Exam (I personally cannot wait - I have some stuff planned for it and I'm anxious to get there). I intend to have chapter 10 out by Friday night. Hopefully. Maybe.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Naruto doesn't understand chakra, Ibiki is a thorough Sensei, and Arashi struggles to find someone to be a test subject for her project._

* * *

**Song**: Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom

* * *

**Chapter 9: Ambitions**

**A Lesson about Chakra**

"I don't get none of this junk, you know!"

Arashi squinted at Naruto and he squinted back.

"You don't get what?"

"Any of that catra junk."

"Catra?"

"Yeah, you know, the stuff you keep studying! Iruka Sensei goes on and on about that junk and I don't get it, you know!"

"Naruto-kun, it's _chakra_ not _catra_. Catra sounds like a bad name for a cheesy monster or something."

"Whatever."

The boy crossed his arms over his chest, threw his nose up, clenched his eyes shut, turned away from her, and sat on the floor. She smothered a laugh with a cough and went over to look at the class work he had spread across the floor in his apartment. She remembered all too well Minato helping her with her struggles with genjutsu, so she was more than prepared to help Naruto. His handwriting was rough, but honestly more eligible than her own, so that was a relief, but as she looked over his work a frown formed on her face.

He really did not get chakra.

"Okay, what do you understand about chakra?"

"You use it to make jutsu work and stuff. I get that, you know, I do!"

"Eh," she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "There's a bit more to it than that."

He turned and looked at her with bright eyes, "Will you teach me, Sis?"

"I'll do my best."

She spent a couple minutes organizing his class work and moving it to his table. He complained a little, but before long she had him sitting in a chair with everything he needed in front of him. She moved a seat beside him and pointed to a section on his homework.

"Do you know what chakra is made of?"

"Uh."

"Energy." She pointed to the light above them, "Like how electricity is energy. Chakra is made up of physical energy from our bodies, and spiritual energy, so if you strengthen your body and your mind it affects your chakra."

He nodded, but she was not sure if he got it or not, "How does it like, uh, work?"

"Well, you know how blood runs through your veins?"

He nodded.

"There are pathways running through your body, like veins, that carries your chakra. They even have gateways and stuff that they pass through."

"Gateways?" He looked down at his body in confusion. "Like, where?"

"Well, there are eight major ones that monitor the flow of your chakra." she scribbled on some sticky notes.

"Where?" He bounced in his seat. "Where?"

"The Gate of Opening," she stuck a note to his forehead, "Gate of Healing," she stuck one next to the first, "Gate of Life," she stuck one on his back over the spinal cord, "Gate of Pain," she stuck another under the first on the spinal cord, "Gate of Limit," she stuck one on his abdomen, "Gate of View," she stuck one on his stomach, "Gate of Wonder," she placed it under his stomach, "and the Gate of Death," she placed the last one over his heart.

He stared at her, wide eyed and confused with sticky notes all over him.

"Okay," she scribbled on some more sticky notes, "Stick them on me now. In the right places."

He looked at the sticky notes and began to place them on her body. She closed her eyes and waited until he had all of them stuck to her and then she checked over it.

"Okay, close enough." She pulled all of them off and put them back on the table. "What is chakra again?"

"Energy!"

"Right." She looked over at her stack of scrolls and an idea dawned on her. "Hey, what do you say about trying an experiment with me?"

"Experiment?" His interest was piqued. "What kind?"

"It's all about chakra, pathways, and jutsu."

He scrunched his nose up, "No offense, Sis, but I've seen you fighting with that junk and I don't think it's safe."

The child that had been calling chakra _catra_ just called her out and basically told her she did not know what she was doing. Her pride stung. The groundwork was finished. Now she just needed to test it on some live subjects. She did not even need to test the whole body yet - just an arm would be fine. Not many people were willing to let a twelve almost thirteen year old test a medical experiment on them, though. She would have tested it on herself, but if there was a miscalculation and her arm was compromised in any way, she might not be able to undo the seal with just one hand.

She sighed in defeat.

* * *

**What Do You See?**

Ibiki looked over his paperwork. In front of his desk, his three students were seated and looking over a case, as well. Beside the stacks of paper were four meals waiting to be eaten - courtesy of Akio's grandmother - as the boy explained when he showed up with the bento boxes. The smell of the food made it even harder to focus on what they were working on together. It was taunting them.

Arashi was convinced that Akio's grandmother intended that from the beginning.

The case they were all looking over concerned a woman by the name of Keiko. She was caught brought in on the belief that she had been conspiring with a Stone Ninja spy. Her interrogation had been quick and although the Genin had not gotten to see the full thing, they were able to draw conclusions from it. Ibiki's squad came to a decision over the ordeal, but his students were left out in order for him to work with them more on the subject.

Finally, Ibiki pushed his work to the side, "Well, let's eat and then we'll continue."

The Genin tried to disguise their excitement as they each grabbed a box and tore into it. It was hard to make that action seem indifferent, but they tried.

Ibiki swallowed a mouthful of rice, "What did you all gather from the interrogation I let you watch yesterday?"

Arashi picked at her food as she thought of a response, "She did a good job acing like she was not involved with the Stone Nin, but she was originally from their country. I think she was planted in the Land of Fire years ago."

"How can you tell where she's from?"

"Oh, well, by how her signature felt, I guess. There's a difference between affinities and, uh, nationalities. After feeling a few people that were definitely from the Land of Stone, it was pretty clear to me."

"Fascinating." He jotted down a note.

It was a well known fact in their squad that Ibiki kept in-depth records and files on his students.

Once he was done writing in Arashi's file, he regarded Daisuke, "What did you notice?"

"Well, I don't have freaky abilities or anything, but what I noticed was more of what she didn't show. Little, subtle details that are natural about a person's face that they don't even realize they're doing weren't there and it became clearer the ore you pushed and got closer to the mark. She was obviously trying to hide something."

"Good. What about you, Akio?"

The Aburame was quiet for a moment before he replied, "Her body language gave her away. It was all wrong. As soon as she entered the interrogation ward, she was tense like she was about to fight. It showed in her eyes, too. Like she was preparing herself for a battle of wills. She had a heads up about how proficient you are, Sensei, but she gave up fast when she realized you were better than her intel led her to believe."

"Excellent observation. I think that's the most I've heard you speak at one time."

Akio shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Ibiki grinned at his team, "Good job, everyone. My goal has been first and foremost to teach you to think, analyze, see through deception, and get the knowledge you need. From there you can learn to build deceptions for yourself to use against your enemy. If you know how to see and deal with all the tricks in the book, that means you can use them all for your own purposes, as well. Knowledge is an immense weapon if you know how to use it."

The Genin nodded in acknowledgement.

"Developing this skill will aid you in any specialization you choose to pursue. As your sensei, I am responsible for guiding you down an appropriate path"

"What would you recommend for me, Sensei?" Daisuke ventured to ask.

"If I could cut out your weak stomach, I would say working under me. If we could do something about that, then I'd wager you have a career waiting for you right here. If it's agreeable to you, that is."

Daisuke frowned down at his food, "I'd like that. I'll figure out some way to deal with my nausea better."

Ibiki's attention turned to the kunoichi, "As for you, I get the distinct impression you'll be following after your father's example. Several years of active duty with many different squads before you settle into a career in the hospital. You've been guided pretty well already. You're well on your way to being a commendable support unit. There's nothing wrong with not being on the front lines."

"I have no problem staying away from the front lines." She smiled and peered over at Akio, "I think that's more his forte, honestly. I'm not cut out for that kind of combat."

For a second she was afraid she would be teased for her almost compliment to the Aburame. It was a new thing for her, but despite her constant annoyance at the boys, she wanted them to succeed. They were a team, after all.

"Ah, yes, Akio. With the proper grooming, I can imagine you as a Jounin in the next several years. If you work hard enough at it."

Akio nodded, pleased with that. The other two Genin eyed him with barely concealed jealousy. It was true that Akio was better rounded than they were for solo active duty.

"Oh yeah, what happened with Keiko?" Arashi asked. "What decision did you come to?"

"After my interrogation was done, we had Inoichi examine her. We determined that she was guilty of conspiring with the stone ninja and their involvement with each other was not just a coincidence or circumstantial against her will. Since the shinobi took his own life before we could get our hands on him, we were unable to dig for more information whether the Tsuchikage authorized the movement into our lands our not."

_Somehow it doesn't surprise me that a spy would rather kill himself than end up here,_ Arashi frowned, "What do we do then?"

"We remain diligent."

"Alright."

They finished the rest of their meal in silence. They still had much more to cover that day and they had a group sparring match scheduled before they would call it quits and go home for the evening. Ibiki was a thorough Sensei and although he did not give them a lot of free time to themselves between training sessions, each Genin reaped benefits from his attention. It was easy to respect the man for that aspect of his person, even if he was one of the most intimidating people any of them had ever met and they would never want him as an enemy for many reasons.

"We will continue your lessons in sign language. It could be useful in many situations and you've all shown more than enough interest in learning it," he looked at a To Do list, "Hm. We'll take on another mission the day after tomorrow."

"Ugh, the lower C's are starting to feel like D's now." Daisuke sniffed. "Half of them are like trashy misunderstandings between people and then one gets fed up and hires us to go rough someone else up."

"Or they're using us to get information to either blackmail someone or to keep themselves from being blackmailed," Arashi added.

"I know, right?" Daisuke sneered. "People are so stupid."

"It's their stupidity that keeps you three paid."

"I guess that's true, Sensei." Arashi replied.

Ibiki snorted in amusement and continued to look at his list, "So, sign language, combat training and sparring, and in a couple days taking on another C ranked mission. We're almost done with today."

That was the best thing Arashi had heard all day.

"Except, we'll be doing something a little differently on our missions from now on. In order to get some more training in."

His students eyed him, dubiously.

"Each of you will take a turn directing the group. I still have the final say as your Sensei, but you can think of it as a leadership preparation exercise."

_So, every two out of three missions I'll have to listen to what these guys tell me to do. Great._

Akio perked up, "What about insubordination?"

"We'll treat everything seriously. Insubordination included, so you'd better show respect to each other."

_Fantastic! How could that possibly ever suck with our group..._ Arashi could think of many ways.

* * *

That evening, as Arashi was walking home, Daisuke approached her.

_Okay, what's up with this?_

He cleared his throat when she turned to face him. His amber eyes focused on everything but her and one of his hands fidgeted with a paint brush. Daisuke was not often timid or embarrassed. Her first instinct was to think he was going to say something to tease her, but his behavior was off. She could usually determine when he was going to say something unpleasant by checking to see if he had a disgruntled sneer on his face.

"Ever since Akio got stabbed and nearly bled out, I haven't been able to stomach a lot. I don't know why, but I need to do something about it. It's humiliating," his words were rushed, ""So, I was wondering if I could get an internship at the hospital and how to go about that."

"Wait, what?"

"Look," the boy grimaced at her surprised expression, "I need to not throw up everywhere when someone gets stabbed or cut and I think this is the best way to get used to it."

"So, you want to desensitize yourself?"

"That's pretty much what I just said."

"Sorry," she huffed, "I just can't remember a time you've ever asked me for help."

He sniffed and crossed his arms across his chest.

"I've just been thinking a lot, lately. I'm not like you or Akio. There's pretty much one niche I can fill and not much else."

"You looked at Ibiki Sensei's file on you, didn't you?"

"What? You haven't?

"No, actually."

He raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief, "Anyway, he thinks Akio will make a good soldier - he is way more combat ready than us - and you pretty much never have to worry about being in demand after you've hit Chuunin status, but," his tone faltered, "I've got genjutsu, which is excellent, but my technique with it requires too much set up. Sure, I could infiltrate or interrogate, but in a one on one battle out in the open I'm screwed."

"You and me, both. One throat punch and it's over."

They sighed in unison.

"I might be able to help you out if you can help me with something," Arashi said, innocently.

"I'm not going to be a guinea pig for whatever you've been messing with. I'd rather not get help at all than feel like I _have_ to help you with one of your weird fuinjutsu things. I've never asked you for anything."

Begrudgingly, Arashi said, "I'll talk to my dad and he can talk to someone for you."

* * *

**Divine Retribution**

Ran Ookami was a respected doctor. During the last war he saved many lives and since then he continued helping however he could. As a Jounin he would never officially retire but after years of active combat, being on call in a hospital felt like vacation. He had even switched fields a few times - field medic to obstetrician to pediatrics to being primarily a surgeon. He was well known for his dedication to his village.

His lion-like laughs reverberated off the walls and brought a smile to many faces. Arashi loved shadowing her adoptive father and helping with his patients. All of the nurses and other doctors expected her to be a step behind her father as he did his rounds and even with her busy new schedule it was not an uncommon sight for her to be there.

"I hate the way this place smells."

Arashi looked over her shoulder at Daisuke as he sneered at his surroundings. Somehow, this seemed like divine retribution for all the clothes he destroyed when they were younger, all the nasty remarks, and all of the glares.

_Oh, this is going to be good._

"This was your idea," she reminded him.

"Yeah, well, doesn't mean it's not gonna suck."

"Sh. Be quiet. My dad's waiting."

She knocked on her father's office door, waited a few seconds, and entered. The boy stayed close on her heels. Ookami placed a file on his desk and greeted the two Genin with a wide smile.

"Oh, Daisuke-kun? You favor your father - your mother must be proud of your progress."

The boy mumbled a quiet thank you and although his expression remained neutral, his eyes seemed to smile.

_I vaguely remember his dad walking with him to the Academy when we were like six or seven._

She could not remember seeing him again.

"Well," Ookami's attention shifted back to the file in front of him, "We have a simple procedure to do. It's nothing serious. A little local anesthesia around an abscess and then I'll drain and pack it."

Arashi managed to keep a straight face.

In truth, the process of draining an abscess was simple, but the stench from the puss was sometimes enough to make her eyes water. Normally she had a strong stomach - only set off when someone near her gagged or heaved - but she knew this procedure would have Daisuke in a corner choking on the contents of his stomach.

_This is going to be glorious._

Her father tucked the file under his arm, stood, and led them out of the room. Arashi could not say that she cared for the way it smelled in the hospital. Although it was clean it only reminded her of the wounded or the sick. It did not make her think of a peaceful place, but of the determined staff that worked long hours and dealt with anything that came through their doors.

It was not long before they were in a room with gloved hands, sterile medical tools, and a patient sitting on a table in front of them. The abscess was located on his lower back.

_It could be in worse places._

Daisuke took a seat on a stool and sat next to the door with a trashcan by his foot. It was strange to see him without his sketchbook, paint, holsters, or shuriken pouch. He did his best to seem indifferent about the situation.

_He's really serious about getting over this, I guess._

"How have you been, Jiro-san?" Ookami asked. "Ready to get that thing taken care of?"

"Past time for it." The patient replied.

"We'll be done soon. Settle on your stomach so we can reach your abscess, if you don't mind, Jiro-san?"

Arashi helped her father clean and disinfect the area.

_Oh boy. It's a big one._

"The anesthesia will burn a bit before you go numb," Ookami warned him before he picked up the syringe. "It'll be over soon, though."

Jiro hissed through his teeth, but managed to stay still as the medication was injected into the inflamed section of his back.

"Good," Ookami whispered, "Now for the incision."

Arashi handed him a scalpel and an ample amount of gauze. Her father pressed the tip of the scalpel into his skin and gently made the cut. Immediately, a yellowish brown pus began to flood out. He used the gauze to catch the flow and she gave him more to use. It was not long before the stench of rotting flesh and infection filled the room.

_It'll smell like this in here all day now._

She tried to not focus on it. There was nothing pleasant about that situation. A sense of pride in her father's calm manner rushed through her. She hoped to someday be as comfortable in the profession as he was.

"Not long now," he announced as he discarded the used gauze and grabbed more. "How are you holding up, Daisuke-kun?"

Silence.

Both Ookami and Arashi looked over to check on the boy. He watched the procedure with the same neutral expression on his face, but there was a few beads of sweat on his forehead like he was concentrating with everything in him to focus.

The kunoichi took a step toward him, "Are you alright?"

His attention shifted to her.

"Daisuke?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but instead threw up.

All over Arashi.

Silence resounded in the room.

"Well," Ookami hummed, "I haven't seen projectile vomit like that in _years_. Maybe we should call a priest to take a look at you, Daisuke-kun."

Divine retribution.

* * *

**Live Testing**

"So, Kazika, do you wanna play a game?"

"Game?"

The boy stared at her with bright eyes and a toothy grin.

_I'm going to hell._

Arashi did not want to use her little brother as a test subject. He was not old enough to know what he was getting himself into. On the other hand, she could not think of any reason the experiment would go wrong. It just needed to be tweaked and in order for her to adjust it appropriately, she needed to see how it would react to a living body. Applying it would be a challenge by itself.

"What kind of game?" The boy bounced around her.

"I'm going to draw on your arm and do something really cool."

The boy scrunched his face up at her.

"Don't worry, I'll let you draw on me, too!"

He thought about it for a moment and nodded, "Okay!"

She whisked her brother away to her room where she had everything waiting. One perk of using her brother was that she was familiar with his signature and had been around him enough that mapping out his chakra system was relatively simple. She took his arm, wrote the seals across his skin, and rechecked her work twice.

"When can I draw on you?"

"In a few minutes. Now hold still."

It was a magical moment. She had been dreaming of putting her idea into action after all of the months she worked on it. She pulled out the scrolls in which she had already sealed the healing ninjutsu along with the tourniquet failsafe and after a few moments she transferred and sealed it into Kazika's arm.

What she had failed to tell the child was that it would sting.

Tears sprang into the boy's eyes, but he fought them back, "My legs hurt."

She blinked and looked at his arm, "I didn't touch your legs."

"I can't feel my legs!"

"I'll fix it, you cry baby." She laughed it off as she quietly panicked.

"I'm going to tell mommy!"

_Uh oh._

"Only babies go running to their mommies. You're not a baby anymore, are you? I thought you were a big boy, but I guess not."

Kazika glared at her through his tears.

"Just be quiet for a minute. I'll reverse the jutsu and do a couple corrections. I must've been off by a little bit."

_No biggie. Just a small miscalculation._

* * *

And that's it for chapter 9. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions, criticisms, opinions, or anything like that - please let me know in a review. I love all kinds of feedback. Let me know what you think of Ibiki, Akio, Daisuke, Kazika, kid Naruto, Ookami - anyone. Tell me what you like and what you dislike.

* * *

**True Guardian Angel**: I'm glad that you've enjoyed this so far. Here's an update, relatively soon. :D

**534667lc:** Here's another update. :D It makes me happy that you enjoyed the last chapter. I worry that sometimes Arashi's team's shenanigans are boring or tedious, but I want to develop each of the characters so that they're not completely pointless. haha


	10. Be Ready

**Chapter 10: Be Ready**

I would like to thank everyone who has read this project up to this point. With this addition, Part 2 will be over 50k words in and the next chapter will be the beginning of the Chuunin Exam for Arashi and her squad (Finally! I've been planning it since before I start Part 1). I apologize if any of this chapter feels like it's filler or anything like that. I've just been ridiculously eager to move into something with more substance and a chance for deeper development for the OCs. xD I don't even know if anyone reads this junk.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Young _Itachi is lovely, Mealybugs, stuffy restaurants, and a step toward destiny._

* * *

**Songs:** _Sufjan Stevens - The Fourth of July_ and _Naruto Shippuden OST - Emergence of Talents_

* * *

**A Gift of Knowledge**

"What?!"

Arashi's thirteenth birthday came and went. As usual, her parents showered her with gifts and spent an evening being a family - which was hard with their schedules. Ookami was a workaholic, Naomi spent most of her time running her salon or chasing after Kazika, and Arashi was almost never home. Then, on a day when their free time lined up, Itachi met her at a cafe for a meal. As always, he listened to her with varying degrees of amusement as she ranted about her life and laughed at her own bad jokes.

He was a subtle guy and if a person did not know how to read the slight movement of his eyebrows or the way that the corners of his mouth quirked, then they would be at a loss and unable to read him at all.

"You're serious?"

"Of course."

His signature flared with amusement. Arashi stared at him, dumbfounded. Well after their meet up at the cafe, he found her and told her he had a surprise for her. He was in his ANBU garb, so she assumed that he just got off duty, but then he led her to the door leading into the Hokage's office.

"You're telling me you talked to Hokage-sama and got his permission for me to use his _personal _library?"

"For your research. You'll have to be monitored, of course, and you'll be kept away from some of the more sensitive forbidden jutsu, but now you can have access to material otherwise kept away from public use."

Arashi opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Instead, she squealed and threw her arms around him. How could she express the wild feeling of shock, disbelief, and thrill she was overcome with at that moment with _words_? He was a little taller than she was, so it made it easy for her to muffle her squeals into his shoulder.

Itachi's eyes softened and he smiled as he returned the embrace, "I know it's late for a birthday present-"

"Birthday present?" She blinked - she had a vanity covered in perfumes, lotions, and trinkets that he gave her through the years, "This is the best present I've ever gotten from someone in my life. You're unreal!"

"Don't thank me," he stepped away from her and motioned toward the door, "Hokage-sama wants to speak with you."

Her giddiness was dampened by nervousness, but she squared herself. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, was much like the village's grandfather. He visited the young students in the Academy, visited orphans, took the time to speak with his subordinates if they requested a meeting, had a soft spot for Naruto for reasons that were illegal to discuss, and had seen the village through dark times. With that in mind, she opened the door and stepped inside.

He sat behind a desk with his pipe in his hand. The tobacco smoke wrapped around him and drifted through the room. The white and red of his robe made him look almost like a specter. His face was weathered from all of his years, but kind despite the hardships.

He spoke first, "I've been told about the technique you're working on, Arashi."

Her eyes drifted to the desk and widened. In front of him were copies of all her hard work, except in Itachi's handwriting. He had been keeping track of it much closer than she realized.

"It's not every day someone so young is as gifted in fuinjutsu," the Hokage continued, "With Itachi's vote of confidence in your abilities, I've decided to help you. There is great potential in this technique."

Arashi could hardly breathe, "Thank you, Hokage-sama!"

"It could save lives. Someday, it could be your legacy. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," she bowed, "I will do whatever it takes to not let this go to waste. I've worked too hard to back down now."

He smiled.

"I look forward to seeing your progress. Itachi will monitor you this evening."

* * *

When she stepped out of the office, she smiled at her friend and together they walked to the library. As soon as she was inside, she walked around, peering at the well organized collection. There was just the two of them inhabiting it - although she knew there were people monitoring it from the outside. The amount of jutsu and techniques around her made her dizzy.

_This is just amazing. _She spun in a circle on her toes. "Itachi-kun, thank you!"

Even though Itachi wore a mask and stood at the back of the room, out of sight, she was thrilled. Without a doubt, he was her dearest friend. He watched her as she flitted from one area to another, looking through all of the scrolls and books for information that would be useful.

It tugged at her in the most nostalgic of ways. She felt almost like she was a small child meeting him for the first time again. Her psyche always linked the event with the taste of juice and onigiri. It was a shame that she did not have any hidden on her person at that moment, but she did have some of Uruchi's senbei tucked away that she would share with Itachi that evening.

"On your birthday I'm taking you to the nicest Kaiseki restaurant in Konoha and I'm paying for everything!"

Arashi disliked Kaiseki restaurants because going to one ended up being an all evening event, the food was expensive, she always over ate because of the excessive courses in the meal, and she felt self conscious and unsophisticated every time she stepped into one. The issue with that was that Itachi liked them and her dislike of them often disqualified Kaiseki restaurants from their list of options when they got to meet up. It made her feel selfish and she was not alright with that. He made her want to be a better person.

Itachi's signature flickered, pleasantly - he was _very_ pleased with himself.

* * *

**Mealybugs**

Arashi wiped sweat from her brow and reached for her canteen. She leaned against a tree for its shade as she took a drink of water. Daisuke and Akio stood near her as they all caught their breath. Ibiki stood in front of them, his trench coat discarded for their sparring lessons. Today they were in a forested training area. He was sure to switch them between training within the village and in the more secluded areas so that they would be accustomed to different terrain.

"Well, that's it for today," Ibiki announced, "I have some work to finish this evening. We'll meet in my office tomorrow, same time as today."

"Yes, Sensei," the Genin acknowledged together.

Once he was out of sight Daisuke excused himself, "See you tomorrow, Akio - Shi-Shi-chan."

Akio grunted and Arashi offered him a quick wave.

_He's been using that stupid nickname since he puked all over me._

Even after his bad experience during the medical procedure, Daisuke continued shadowing at least one day a week. It became painfully clear that the boy had a very weak stomach, but he was making strides in the right direction.

"Arashi, before you leave, I want you to do something for me."

The kunoichi froze and looked over at Akio, "Like what?"

It had been a while since he last spoke to her directly. In fact, she was fairly certain he spoke to her only when necessary. He was quiet anyway, but she knew most of it stemmed from the mutual dislike between the two.

"Stab my arm."

She blinked, "Will I get swarmed by bugs?"

"No. Not this time."

She pursed her lips and squinted at him, "Why do you want me to stab you?"

"I'm trying to test a new jutsu."

"Couldn't you get Daisuke to do this for you?"

"If it fails then you can heal the damage."

"Well, that does make sense."

"Why are you so hesitant? I thought you'd enjoy trying to hurt me."

She threw her nose up, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

She _felt_ him give her a funny look through his sunglasses.

"Maybe you're in the wrong profession if that's the case."

"Okay, _fine_," she relented, "So, you want me to cut you?"

He nodded and held his arm out.

"But, it'll ruin your coat sleeve."

His eyebrows rose above his shades, "I have more coats. Just cut me."

_He'd better not pull anything weird on me._ She slid a kunai out of the pouch on her hip, "You ready?"

He nodded.

_This will be... interesting._

Arashi slashed at his arm - fully expecting to leave a nasty laceration - but instead her kunai struck something solid and would not move. Her eyes went wide.

_Oh geez, is it stuck in the bone?!_

She glanced up at Akio's face to find that he watched her with a smirk. People typically did not have such a smug expression when there was a blade buried in their bones. She grabbed the handle with both hands and managed to pull it free with a grunt.

She chewed on her lip for a second before she asked, "Are you, uh, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Try to cut me harder."

"You're going to tell me what you're doing."

"You're difficult," he mumbled. "It's a jutsu."

"What _kind _of jutsu. Did I not hurt you just then?"

The set of his mouth hardened, "I'll show you."

He unclasped his coat and slid his arm out of the sleeve. All over it were white insects with a wax filament coming out of their bodies. The filaments intertwined and held them together. Her skin crawled, but fascination kept her from pulling back. She had never seen bugs like these before. He watched her lean toward his arm and gawk. He was tense like he was getting ready to brace himself for a punch.

"What kind of bugs are they?"

"They're a type of mealybug."

"Okay - what are they doing and why can't I cut through them?"

"Well," he relaxed a little, "The filaments on their body grow and become stronger as they feed on my chakra. If I send them a burst then they act like armor and can even hold an attacker still, like when you had to struggle to get your kunai back."

The sight of the bugs wriggling on his arm made the hair on the back of her neck stick up, but the usefulness of the technique was undeniable.

"Does it require a lot of chakra?"

"No."

She glanced up to see how much more daylight they had. It would be getting dark before too long. She readied her kunai.

"Okay, so, you want me to cut you harder this time?"

He slid his arm back into his coat.

"Yes. As hard as you can."

She threw her weight into her next attack - but she got no farther than she did the first time. If anything, it made it even harder for her to pull free. Akio nodded in approval.

"Let's try it in a sparring match."

She held up a hand, "First off, you're faster than me. Second, you're stronger than me. Third, none of my jutsu are offensive."

"I won't use any of my bugs to attack you. Just come at me from different angles so I can get used to using them in different areas on my body."

Her lips thinned into a line, "Okay."

She tightened her grip on the kunai and waited until he nodded.

_He's going to block each of my attacks and try to hold me still with those bugs. If I used a chakra scalpel, those things couldn't do anything, but that's not what he needs help testing. Kunai it is... Here goes nothing._

She lunged at his other side and he blocked her attack with his forearm. The filaments held the kunai in place - but with her momentum she pivoted behind him with a new kunai in her hand.

Akio stood still as she sliced through the back of his coat.

_Oh man._

What she could see of his back was covered in more of those insects.

She leaped back and chewed on her lip.

"Let's do that a few more times," he called over to her. "It will give you a chance to work on your speed and reaction, too."

They repeated the routine several more times until the sun completely set and the only light was from the moon. Arashi was drenched in sweat from the exercise and her legs felt like wet noodles from the day of training.

Akio adjusted his sunglasses and shifted his weight between his feet, "My grandmother is waiting for me. I need to go."

"Alright," Arashi replied, breathlessly. "See you tomorrow."

He turned and started on his way home.

_Maybe.. he's not so bad, after all._

It dawned on her that she had never heard him mention his parents.

_Hm.._

She remembered all too clearly how Daisuke reacted when her father mentioned his dad. She decided to make a quick stop by the Hokage's library to check some records she noticed on a prior visit. If she as quick it would only be a short detour before she went home.

* * *

Arashi searched until she found them - a listing of all the deaths in the village as well as records for the Aburame and Kurama clan. The Kurama clan was tiny so it did not take long for her to locate Daisuke's parents. His mother was still alive, but his father had passed away. Her eyes widened when she saw the date.

His father died the day that the Kyuubi attacked the village.

All at once it made sense that she no longer saw the man walking his son to the Academy. In her grief over losing Minato and Kushina, she did not notice Daisuke dealing with his own loss. The thought of losing Ookami was enough to make Arashi sick.

_I've been oblivious._

She pushed the Kurama records to the side and grabbed the Abruame's. The clan was larger and had been more active over the years, so it took her longer to locate Akio's parents. Both were deceased. She felt numb as she checked the death dates. His father died almost a year before the Kyuubi attack, but his mother was another victim of the demon.

_So that's why he's only ever mentioned his grandmother._

The memory of attacking him in the playground rushed in front of her eyes and guilt seared her conscience. It was not long before that incident that Akio lost his father.

_It's.. It's not okay, but maybe his bullying stints were just his way of feeling like he was in control of his life after losing so much?_

Arashi put everything back into their places. Her questions were answered, but the light that they shed did not bring her satisfaction. She continued her research with a frown on her face. She had a lot to do, but her thoughts were elsewhere that night.

* * *

**Kaiseki Cuisine**

Arashi was used to a quick and busy lifestyle.

She was so used to cramming to get everything she could into a day that taking the time to thoroughly enjoy a meal made her feel like she was wasting invaluable time. She could name ten things she needed to do right off the top of her head without having to consider it. When she stood still for more than a couple minutes, she felt uneasy.

She slipped into something nicer than her normal attire and stared at herself in the mirror. The kunoichi was dark under her eyes from all the late nights she spent pouring over documents. Her mother peered into her room and cooed.

"For Itachi-kun's birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you going?"

"You know that Kaiseki place that Naruto vandalized last week?"

Naomi put a hand on her hip, "What? Did they finally get all the paint and traps cleared out?"

"Erm, yeah, we're going there."

Her mother grinned, conspiratorially, "Oh, he'll like that."

"I thought so, too, or I wouldn't have offered. I have so much on my plate to take care of-"

"If you keep worrying over all those scrolls, you're going to be a wrinkled hag before you even find a husband, sweetie. Those bags under your eyes are scary."

Arashi gave her mother a flat look, "You are terrible, Mom."

The woman cackled and walked out of her room.

When she and Itachi were finally seated, she looked around at their surroundings. It boasted a beautiful atmosphere. They had a perfect view out into the garden and there was a koi pond that spanned from right below their window all the way across the area with a bridge running over the middle of it. She wondered how bad it looked after Naruto was done with it and how long it took them to restore it to its previous condition.

She tore her attention off the scene and grinned at Itachi, "Happy birthday, by the way."

His eyes softened.

Before long, they brought out the first course of the meal.

_And the work begins._

Course after course, she tried to remember her manners. It was too easy for her to over eat and not pace herself correctly in places like this. The whole time she ate, she tried to sneak glances toward Itachi - who seemed even more pensive than normal - until she gave up and started watching the koi swimming in the pond.

Two fish in particular caught her attention. One that caught the light and shimmered like gold and another that was an aquatic cow of a fish that was red and white.

_I wish I could throw some food to them. Little monsters will eat anything._

"You're restless."

She blinked and regarded Itachi, "What?"

"You keep shifting and looking at the fish."

"Oh," her face burned, "I love koi."

The corner of his mouth quirked.

She got the distinct feeling he saw right through her excuse, "I'm just not used to _this._"

"I understand," he peered into the pond, "Which do you like the most? The large red and white or the golden one?"

_He's freakishly good. Was I that obvious?_ She turned her attention back to the fish, "I like the red and white the best, I think. It's very vibrant. It would be nice to have a koi pond someday."

"I see," he took a bite of his food and swallowed before he continued, "You should try to get more rest, Arashi-chan."

Her hands automatically went to the bags under her eyes, "That bad, huh?"

He chuckled - which gave him a boyish charm not often seen.

"I am a delicate flower!"

His grin deepened.

She crossed her arms and pouted. _Hmph. See if I ever pay for us to come to this place again, Itachi-kun!_

The boyishness faded away and was replaced with the same pensive expression, "Don't you think it's lovely, though?"

She leaned forward a little, "What is?"

"The meaning of this place and what it brings to focus. Every experience is fleeting. It is not about the food so much as it is about where we are and when we are," he explained, "Breathe, Arashi-chan, and enjoy this evening with me. We will never get it back."

As she watched him talk, she did not see a twelve year old boy, but a person well beyond his years. In that moment Arashi realized she would sit through any amount of tedious meals to hear him speak like that.

"You're right. I don't mean to seem so anxious." She motioned toward the garden, "But it _is_ beautiful out there. Looking at the pond calms my nerves."

He hummed to himself and commented, "Nature shows beauty without the vanities people mix into the perceptions of themselves. Beauty in its natural state is imperfect, it is incomplete and it is always changing."

_Maybe I don't mind this place so much, after all._

* * *

**Be Ready**

The birds chirped cheerfully as Arashi walked to the Intelligence Division. It was early in the morning, but her body was used to the schedule now. It had been roughly two years since she became a Genin and Ibiki was very structured. It was fascinating to her how the whole village seemed to be asleep early in the morning and then all at once it would come to life as everyone emerged and went about their lives.

As soon as she made it to Ibiki's office, she took a seat in front of his desk. He was already there and reviewing some more paperwork. She did not bother to ask. Many times it regarded something she technically was not authorized to know, so she sat in silence until Akio and then Daisuke arrived. Once everyone was seated, Ibiki filed away what he was looking at and turned his attention to his squad.

"Since you three are from shinobi families, I am sure that you are all familiar with the term: Chuunin Exam."

"Yeah, of course," Daisuke replied. "My mom's told me stories about hers."

"Grandmother has interesting memories of her own," Akio added.

Arashi felt like the odd one out. She had heard of the Chuuin Exam - every time it was held in Konoha the final part was staged in the arena in the village and the stadium was always packed with villagers and people from other countries. It was a huge event that brought in tourists and foreigners. Her mother would always get into a tizzy about all the new people and business. She was a social butterfly. Her father would complain about all the knife wounds and bar fight injuries he had rolling into his ward. He found the spike in violence to be senseless.

Not once did Ookami tell her stories about his experience with the Exam.

In fact, he had never told her stories about any of the dangerous events in his life. None of the exams, none of the battles, and absolutely nothing about the last war he fought in. Now that she understood the hardships he must have faced and the people he must have lost, she did not have the heart to ask him. She really had no clue what to think of it, while her two teammates had an idea of what to expect.

"You three have been excellent students," Ibiki went on, "I have been nothing but pleased with you and I can honestly say that I am proud to have you as my students. I had my doubts at first, but each of you has proven to be diligent and determined. I am enrolling you in the next Chuunin Exam. It will be held here in three months."

Arashi's eyes widened.

_I didn't expect to hear this kind of news this morning._

Akio smirked while Daisuke beamed.

"Don't get too cocky. The real work is about to begin. For the next three months I'm going to work you three to the bone. This is no laughing matter. Many people have been maimed, disabled, and some have even died from previous Exams." He pinned each of them with a stern look. "Ever since the last war ended, the life of a Genin has been a sheltered experience. You will be facing enemies and challenges you've never had to face before. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei!" they chorused together.

"Good. I will be giving you the evening off to rest and to prepare for the next three months. Do not expect me to go easy on any of you. We will meet here tomorrow morning at the same time. Be ready."

Arashi left the building and headed straight for the Hokage's library. Every fiber of her being burned with determination.

* * *

All around Arashi were open books and scrolls. A well of ink and a brush sat by her side. Her stomach was in a knot of anticipation. The light from the setting sun illuminated everything in the room with an orange glow. The kunoichi ran the tip of her kunai across the skin on her forearm.

A warm sensation flooded the area and the flesh mended itself back together before she was even done making the cut.

_Oh, I'll be ready._

* * *

And that is it for chapter 10!

Once again, I must thank everyone who took the time to read this chapter. If you have any suggestions, opinions, or criticisms, please feel free to share them in a review! Feedback is great and I'm open to anything that could improve the story, characters, or concepts.


	11. The Chuunin Selection Exam Begins

**Chapter 11: The Chuunin Selection Exam Begins**

Finally, I've made it to the Chuunin Selection Exam. This makes me so happy. It feels like after all this time I'm getting to hit some substance. Up to this point everything has been setting up the OCs for this event and for the other parts of this project. Thanks to everyone who has continued to read this fanfiction. You're all great. :) I apologize for any typos in this or if I worded anything strangely. I've been doing a lot of writing lately and I'm afraid I might get sloppy at times.

* * *

**Song**: Radiohead - Creep (specifically a cover by a guy named Shay)

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Arashi's team takes on the written portion of the Chuunin Selection Exam. Arashi meets a Stone ninja named Satoshi

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**The Written Exam**

Ibiki's words rang in Arashi's ears.

_"Genin are the grunts of the ninja world. They lack the skill and experience to be trusted leading a squad on a mission. They take orders and nothing else."_

She tied her hitai-ate around her forehead and double checked to make sure all of her supplies were fully stocked.

_ "But as they gain experience and follow the example set by their Sensei, they begin to change."_

Her eyes caught a reflection in the mirror she kept in the corner of her room. If her mother had been around to see her, she was sure the woman would have referred to her as a little thinner in the face and lankier than she had been before. For a second, she did not recognize herself.

_ "Being a Chuunin is not about the sheer power a shinobi possesses, but the mindset he or she develops. As a Chuunin your leadership skills and how well your squad complies to your orders are your greatest weapons."_

She picked the kunoichi music box up and stared at it, thoughtfully. It was a silly memento, but it reminded her of the first kind act her teammates performed for her and it all stemmed from their first C ranked mission. Even if she would rather kick herself than admit it, it made her think almost fondly of the two boys. She tucked it away into her pack, hoping it would be a good luck charm of sorts.

_ "You have to be ready to take the lives of your squad and the honor of this country on your own two shoulders. You have to be prepared to make hard decisions."_

She tied her medical pouch around her waist and tucked several more scrolls away. She had to be ready for whatever was going to be thrown at them.

_ "A Genin - a grunt - isn't cut out for it."_

She took a deep breath to refocus her thoughts.

_ "But I am not the Sensei of a team of grunts."_

Arashi walked out of her bedroom.

_ "Come back to me as Chuunin."_

It was almost time.

When Ibiki said that the next three months of training would be intense, he meant it. He hardly gave his squad a chance to catch their breath and everything they did together had a lesson behind it. While other squads grew to know their Sensei's soft spots, all her team learned was the depth of Ibiki's stern and serious nature. Nothing that they did together was lighthearted.

Not that they had not caught him shooting a proud glance in their direction when they did something right, or given them an occasional extra day off if they had the nerve to ask him. He was a difficult person to read, but that was exactly what he wanted. He was their Sensei and they were his subordinates. They were not friends.

_I wonder if anything would be different between me and Ibiki Sensei if I became a Chuunin? Would he still treat me like a student or more like an equal?_

She stepped into the kitchen where her father was finishing breakfast. Naomi and Kazika were visiting another country - a matter of business for the woman. She was getting new products and supplies and trying new things for her salon. Because Ookami stayed so busy with his work, she chose to take the young boy with her. They left with a hired group of shinobi to escort them with a group of merchants on their way to the Mist.

Arashi would be lying if she said she was not jealous she could not travel to different places before she was a Genin. Being a member of the military tended to complicate traveling to the other Lands, even if it was just paranoia that something would happen. Her father was not the most thrilled when Naomi announced her plans, but after coming to an agreement over the escort he was satisfied.

She cleared her throat, "Dad?"

"Hmm?" he placed a plate of food on the table near her.

She absentmindedly noted that she felt Itachi's signature nearby, but pushed that thought away, "Do you have any advice?"

He thought for a moment and sighed.

"I'd rather you never grow up, to be honest, but because I can't stop you from doing so, I guess the best piece of advice I can give you is to be very careful. It's your team against every other team there. Read between the lines and be sure that you take care of yourself. You're a medical ninja and that," his expression was sad, "That makes this ordeal even more dangerous for you. Do you understand?"

Her throat tightened, "I do."

"Well," he looked away, "I'm sure Morino-san has done an excellent job preparing you."

There was a knock at the door. Her father nudged the plate of food toward her and went to see who was visiting them so early in the morning. She already knew who it was, so she practically inhaled her food - she did not want to be late. She placed her plate next to the sink and left the kitchen.

Itachi stood by the door, speaking with Ookami. She shot him a curious look.

"I wanted to see you before the Exams," the boy explained, "We will probably be too busy to see each other for a while, so I thought I would walk with you this morning."

"Oh, okay." She hugged her father, "I love you, Dad."

"You'll do wonderfully," he assured her. "Just be safe."

* * *

They walked in silence through the village. Her home was located on the outskirts, so it was a relatively lengthy walk to the Academy where the first part of the Exam was being held. She enjoyed his companionable silence. The air had a chill to it, but not enough to make her uncomfortable. If anything, she felt thrilled and refreshed that morning.

Once they were close to the Academy, she saw that Akio and Daisuke were already there. They leaned against the side of the building. She stopped grabbed Itachi's sleeve.

"Good luck, Arashi-chan," he told her, quietly, "Watch your back and don't trust anyone."

"I'll be careful."

His eyebrows knit together and softened his countenance.

"What? Don't you believe in me?"

A second of discomfort flashed across his face before it was replaced once again with his resting passive expression.

"I have confidence in your abilities. Of course."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a hug. She never quite grew out of the phase of hugging everyone from when she was a child.

"Don't worry too much," she whispered into his ear. "They're waiting for me, so I should go."

He watched her join her team and then left to start his own day.

"Geez, the two of you still hang off of each other like you did when you were little kids," Daisuke mumbled.

Akio snorted, but chose to not comment.

"He's my friend," she shrugged. "Anyway, we have other things to worry about."

They fell back into their normal formation with Arashi in the middle and one of the boys at each of her sides. She was still not entirely sure what to expect, but the unknown possibilities of the experience excited her. They hit the stairs and made their way up to the third floor where they would have to register one last time before the Exam officially began.

"I wonder how many other people will be here," Daisuke whispered.

Arashi could feel a mass of signatures nearby, "A lot."

"That's vague." Daisuke sniffed. "Can't you give me an estimation?"

She ignored him.

"We'll see, soon." Akio shrugged.

"Ibiki Sensei's around," she commented. "Maybe he's here to give us a final bit of advice."

"He might be around to see how we do, too." Daisuke added.

She shrugged.

When they opened the door to the room they were instructed to go to, they were greeted by the unwelcome stares of all of their competition. Daisuke sucked in a sharp breath.

The vague statement from the kunoichi had been an accurate description.

Now that she was in the room with them, she was almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of signatures from different lands. There must have been close to two hundred people in the room. She was sure there was no more space for even just a single squad. Not only did she pick up on the differences in their nationalities, but they all had their own affinities - not to mention the variations in chakra quantity between everyone. All at once her senses tried to pick up on each signature and then make sense of all the information there.

She took a steadying breath.

_I'm just nervous and trying to analyze these people too fast. I didn't think there would be so many people taking the Exam. This is the largest room in the Academy and it's completely full._

There was a deeper meaning to the Exam than just the potential to be promoted from a Genin to a Chuunin. Performing well could shape the rest of a shinobi's career, as well as garner attention from the lords. If a country's Genin did well and showed off the Land's military prowess then the feudal lords would be more inclined to remember it. It even affected the economy.

Around the room she could see chuunin proctor positioned to monitor everyone there - like sentinels. She recognized most of the faces. As a group, the three made their way over to the sentinel at the front of the room and completed their registration. He handed each of them a separate number and motioned for them to step out of the way if anyone else needed to get to him.

Arashi was thankful for the presence of her teammates as they slid into the mass of people there.

After a while, the sentinel at the front of the room stood up and announced, "We will begin, shortly when the main proctor arrives. In each seat you will find a number. You have all been seated based on your entrance. Find yours."

The room was a hurricane of movement and chaos as everyone searched for their places. Several sentinels made their way through the room to ensure everyone was in the right place. It was a quick process and when everyone settled, Arashi's ears rang from the hushed silence that filled the room.

_Like the calm before a storm._

She peered around to locate her teammates. Akio was somewhere behind her. Daisuke was near the front of the room and to her right. She was near the middle of the sea of Genin.

"Oh, they separated everyone. No safety nets here," a boy whispered by her side.

She looked over at who spoke and raised an eyebrow at him.

"This your first time?"

She started to reply, but stopped. Instead, she look down at her lap.

"Heh! You must be shy. It'll be alright. I'll keep an eye on you since your friends can't."

"Thanks, but it's not necessary."

Something about him was wrong.

He seemed innocent enough in appearance. His hair was a light brown and his eyes were gray like the sky on a rainy day. From what she could tell he was just a little taller than her and perhaps a year or two older. His clothes were simple so that he could move around without them getting in the way. He had a Stone hitai-ate tied around his forehead. There was nothing about his appearance that would have made her feel uncomfortable or intimidated by him.

It was his chakra and the aura he exuded that was repugnant to her.

"Is it because your boyfriend will get jealous?"

She stiffened and peered at him from the corner of her eye, "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I saw you hugging that guy before you walked in," he pointed to a window, "I was looking out at the village and saw you down there."

_Why was he watching me? _Her skin crawled, "He's just a friend. I can take care of myself."

"Heh, I see. My name's Satoshi. What's yours?"

_Ugh, I don't want to be rude. He's probably just being overly friendly. Uh,_ She blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "If I give you my name, it'll take away any mystery between us."

A predatory glint came into his eyes before he shut them and grinned at her.

_The hell was that?_

No one had ever looked at her that way before.

"You know, you're kinda cute. I bet your mom's a civilian."

She shifted, uncomfortably, "Why would you say something like that?"

"Your hair is really pretty and long," he stated matter-of-factly. "You actually take care of it. Like a civilian that cares about stuff like that."

Her lips thinned into a line, "It's not really your business."

"And your skin," he ignored her, "it looks like porcelain. You're just a little doll!"

Her stomach turned.

Arashi had never experienced a boy flirting with her before, but she was certain what he was doing was inappropriate. Flirting was not meant to make the other person sick. She did not feel flattered. She felt violated.

Satoshi wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger and rubbed the strands with his thumb, "Soft, too."

_Ew._

She leaned her head away from him and tugged her hair out of his grasp.

A door opened and closed as Morino Ibiki entered the room and took his place in front of everyone. His presence made the atmosphere thick with tension. Trying to ignore him would have been like trying to ignore a rabid bear in the room.

"My name is Morino Ibiki and the head proctor over this exam. There will be no fights unless otherwise authorized by a proctor. Any act that could lead to the death of one of the applicants is prohibited in this step of the selection."

_That cheeky jerk! He knew he'd be testing us the whole time._

"Since time is precious, I will get straight to the point. Right now, one of each of your squads is going to be disqualified. Then out of the two left per team, only the one that scored the highest can continue to the next exam."

_What?!_

The room filled with murmurs.

"A Chuunin must be ready to make hard decisions."

People began to stand and move to the front where a sentinel guided them into another room. A hand settled on her shoulder. It was Akio. She looked up at him, confused.

"I'll disqualify myself so you and Daisuke can have a chance."

"Wait! You can't be serious-"

"Think of it as a thank you for saving my life before."

He leaned forward so that she could see his eyes over his sunglasses and he shot a warning glance toward Satoshi.

_So, he noticed the creep, too?_

Before she could say anything else, he released her and walked to the front to be escorted to the other room.

Satoshi nudged her side, "That was sweet of him!"

Out of their squad, Akio was the most well rounded member. If one person had a chance going solo, it was him. Arashi knew that. She and Daisuke depended on having a group to work with, but he could be effective on his own. He was better at combat, he was more intimidating than them, and he could track with his insects if he had to.

"Wait!" She jumped to her feet.

People stared at her like she was crazy as she ran after the Aburame. She shot past the sentinel who marked her name off his list and grabbed Akio's coat sleeve when she caught up to him. He stared at her, incredulously.

"You were the best choice to stay!" She hissed. "There's no way I can face every challenge alone."

Akio's shoulders sagged, "And you think Daisuke can?"

"Oh."

"What were you guys saying about me?" Daisuke sniffed behind them.

They stared at him.

"What? If you guys think I'm capable of soloing this whole Exam by myself, you're both crazy."

_I bet Ibiki Sensei's ashamed right now._

Before long, the room was almost full. Arashi was surprised to see that her team was not the only full group that disqualified themselves. Satoshi's team had done the same thing. Another sentinel separated the partial squads from the full groups as they came in.

* * *

Ibiki smirked at the scant amount of people left in the room with him.

"Alright, all of you and your squads are disqualified! Leave and start on your journey back to your homes!"

They stared at him in shock.

"Step to it! I don't have all day."

* * *

Arashi, Akio, and Daisuke gaped as they were ushered back into the main room and back to their seats. She shot a glance over at Ibiki to see him standing at the front of the room with a smug look on his face.

_I was certain we failed._

Ibiki looked down at a clipboard and snorted to himself. Out of fifty two squads, fifteen were left. Once everyone was seated he placed it on his desk and regarded the Genin.

"Good job, everyone. A shinobi has to be able to see through deceptions." He explained. "The success of the mission is of utmost importance. Above even your own life or the lives of your friends, but you are here to become Chuuin, not Jounin. You need a team to lead - you are not prepared for the life of an elite! Therefore, how can any of you hope to finish your mission if you throw away your squad before it even begins?"

_I guess that makes sense. Why would you need three people in order to enter if you were going to go on alone after that, anyway?_

"Many of you are still here because you were cowards who stumbled across the correct answer without realizing it. You are the sheep," he scanned each face there, "Then, there are some of you who realized the answer and acted accordingly. You are the wolves."

_Ouch. I wonder if he realizes that his own squad accidentally passed that part?_

"First off, before we begin this, I have a set of rules." He picked up some chalk and tapped the board several times, "Listen well because I won't be taking any questions! First rule: with this test you start off with zero points. Your test has ten questions. Your goal is to get as many points as you can by answering the questions. Second rule: pass or failure will be determined by the total points of your squad."

Sentinels went around and placed the test in front of everyone. Arashi scanned over the first page of questions and frowned.

_These questions are no joke. I think I can answer most of them, though._

"And finally, the most important rule. If any of the sentinels catch you in the act of cheating or even suspect you are cheating, then points will be deducted from your overall score. Once you have been caught cheating five times you will automatically fail the test and so will your squad. If you intend to amount to anything, you must behave as exemplary shinobi."

_Fair enough._

"If you fail to answer any of the questions, you will automatically fail and so will your squad. You have one hour. Forty five minutes into the exam you will be given the final question. Begin!"

Arashi picked up a pencil and began working her way through the questions. They were difficult and not what she would have expected for either a Genin or a Chuunin. From the corner of her eyes she noticed people getting edgy. No one was going to do well with this test.

_Daisuke should be fine. He'll cheat his way through like he did in the Academy and the sentinels won't even realize it. Akio, on the other hand, might have some more difficulty._

She finished answering a question and rubbed her temples.

_They'll give partial credit on these, right?_

She looked at the other page of questions. She started to chew on her lips.

_I'm freakin screwed._

She felt something tugging at her hair. She crinkled her nose and looked over at Satoshi. He had a fistful of her hair and he was smelling it.

_Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!_

Arashi was mortified.

Ibiki dropped a clipboard on the floor, "Hands to yourself, degenerate!"

Satoshi let go of her hair with a grin and went back to writing.

_What the hell?!_ She took a deep breath. _Thank you, Ibiki Sensei._

The Stone Genin by her side made her tense. It was hard enough for her to answer the questions without the feeling that he was going to grab her hair or try to touch her leg under the table. She glanced at the clock and clicked her tongue in annoyance. She did not have time to fret over anything except for the questions on the paper in front of her.

_These questions are terrible, but I think I'm okay. At this rate I should pass it. Hopefully._

Her eyes settled on the last four questions. The main last question was blank and had instructions to wait until the last fifteen minutes of the exam to receive the question from Ibiki. The three before it were what made her pause.

Each question was about advanced genjutsu.

_Well, even if I don't get these, I should be fine._..

She squinted at the paper.

_Wait, is that fine print under the questions?_

The three about genjutsu were weighted differently than the rest of the exam. If she missed them, then she would be losing a higher amount of points than any of the other questions.

_I'm going to fail._

A bead of sweat ran down her face.

_Ibiki, you sadistic bastard. These were meant for me._

She locked eyes with her Sensei and the corner of his mouth rose into a crooked grin.

_You've got to be kidding me!_

She swallowed over the lump in her throat and went back to review the other questions. She had answered them to the best of her abilities. She could not see anywhere that she could squeeze even one more point out of anything.

She took her glasses off and laid them on the table to massage her temples better. A partial headache was threatening to become a full blown migraine. She went to put them back on and found that they were no longer there. She glanced over to find Satoshi wearing them.

"What are you doing?" She hissed and snatched them away.

"Aw, now I don't look bookish anymore."

She wiped them clean and returned them to her face.

_I'm going to scream if he keeps provoking me._

She tried to discretely scan the room. She did not have much time left to complete the test and she had no clue how she was going to answer the last three questions. Everyone seemed to be struggling with the test. In fact, from what she could tell only a couple people in the room seemed to be confidently working their way through.

Her eyes narrowed.

_I recognize their signatures. They're so not Genin. Out of everyone here, they're too comfortable with themselves. Everyone else is freaking out a little._

Arashi noticed several people using different techniques to cheat off the two she noted. Some of Akio's bugs were even scouting it out for answers. She chewed on her lips and looked at her test again. She _needed_ a correct answer for those questions. It was not optional if she was going to pass this part of the exam.

_If I fail and I drag the rest of my team down with me, I will go home and kill myself. Daisuke and Akio will never let me live it down. Ever._

She tried to not throw a panicked look toward Ibiki.

_And I don't even want to think about what Sensei would do to me._

She took another steadying breath.

_Those guys were planted in the room. Cheating isn't an instant disqualification. Ibiki is crazy about gathering information to use. This is a test to see how well we can obtain information._

Her head started to ache.

_I know who was planted. I'm able to track people for miles just from their chakra signature. I can heal life threatening injuries. I can smuggle tons of things with me via fuinjutsu... but I have no way to get the information from the guy I'm supposed to get it from and he's just five feet away from me._

She wanted to cry.

_I've never had to cheat like this. I'm the joke of the team._

She hid her face in her hands and gradually the panic turned to acceptance. Serenely, she took her pencil and began to write under the three genjutsu questions. She tuned out the sound of the clock ticking as she threw all of her concentration into it.

Ibiki checked the time and announced, "It's now time for the last question."

Arashi tightened her grip on her pencil.

"But, before that," he started a slow walk through the room, "There are two more rules attached to it and a personal warning. You must choose whether or not to answer it. If you choose not to, then your whole squad will fail. If you choose to answer the question and then fail, you can never take this exam again."

Everyone went still.

"If you manage to answer the last question correctly, you will move on to the next exam, but," his hands rose and he slid his bandana hitai-ate from his head to reveal all of the scars and damage, "Then you will be a herd of sheep being hunted by the wolves that have slipped in. How many of you will be torn apart?"

He completed his round through the room and stopped at the front of the class. Disfiguring scars had a tendency to rattle nerves.

"The choice is yours. You can drop out and take the exam next time it comes up or the time after that," he returned his hitai-ate to his head, "Or you can fail or be torn to pieces."

Arashi looked down at her exam and frowned, _Daisuke will do fine. Akio's bugs were around the right person to cheat off. If we're graded together, then what I was able to answer should be enough for us to pass._

"Those of you who will not be answering the final question, raise your hand."

Arashi watched as hands went up and three more squads left the room.

"This is your last chance!" Ibiki warned them.

Arashi leaned back in her chair, _If many more people leave then there won't be enough to do much of anything with._

No one else budged.

"Very well, the rest of you pass!"

* * *

Once the Genin were moved out of the room, Ibiki walked around and collected three tests in particular. If he chose to be honest, then he would admit openly that he expected his team to fail with the first batch of people he disqualified. He expected their pride to get in the way.

He picked up Daisuke's test and his eyebrows shot up. Every question was correct. His eyes narrowed. There was no way that Daisuke knew every answer that well and he had not seen the boy cheat even once.

Genjutsu.

Once he released it, he saw that the sheet of paper was covered in doodles and nothing else.

With a snort of amusement he looked at Akio's. The Aburame had done excellently acquiring the information that he needed from the chuunin that Ibiki placed in the room. It was as he expected.

Lastly, he went to Arashi's test.

She answered most of the questions very well, despite being unable to adequately cheat like most of the other applicants. When his eyes found the last three questions, he paused.

In bold, large letters was written over and over again: **THIS IS TARGETED AND SPECIFIC DISCRIMINATION.**

It had been.

His laughter echoed off the walls.

* * *

_So, next is the Forest of Death?_

Arashi stood with her teammates and stared at the dense forest in front of them. They were the only Leaf squad to made it through to this round. Other than Arashi's team there was one Lighting squad, two Sand squads, two Grass squads, three Waterfall squads, one Rain squad, one Mist squad, and Satoshi's Stone squad.

Twelve teams in total.

In Arashi's hand, she held a Heaven Scroll.

"Daisuke? Akio?" she whispered.

They turned their attention to her.

"I have an idea."

* * *

That's it for chapter 11. It has taken me a while to get here, but it makes me happy to be putting her through something that will affect her future. Thank you to everyone who read the chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any opinions, criticisms, suggestions, or anything like that then please feel free to share it in a review.

I'm not entirely sure when the next update will be, but I'll try to have it out relatively soon. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are ridiculously busy for me so I don't get to write much on those days.

* * *

**DarkNexus4050**: I'm glad you liked the ending of the last chapter. :) I personally can't wait for Arashi to grown up, but I decided to do it this way, so it'll take some time.

**True Guardian Angel**: haha here's another update. Tell me what you think of it. :)


	12. Ready or Not: Here We Come

**Chapter 12: Ready or Not: Here We Come**

Bear (snort) with me on this one. I chose to write this chapter from another team's POV. As you read through it, it will allow you to see more of the competition than you could have from Arashi's POV. This will probably be the only chapter I ever write solely from this particular character's perspective. I'm rather fond of Arashi's willful, bratty self and it won't be long until we're right back with her. Once again, I would like to thank everyone who checks this out and has stuck through all of this project so far! Thanks to everyone who reviews, follows, and add this as a favorite. You're all amazing and I appreciate it.

* * *

**Song:** Scala and Kolacny Brother - Ready or Not (I love this song for this chapter, especially the last part)

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** _Another team's perspective of a day in the Forest of Death. Meet Tetsu, Jirochi, and Natsuo - a Waterfall squad._

* * *

**Ready or Not: Here We Come**

_"There's three squads that made it through that you and your team need to avoid, Tetsu."_

Tetsu was terrified.

_"That Mist squad is brutal. Say what you want about how small their military is compared to the other main countries, they pump out impressive swordsmen. I saw those guys at the last exam."_

Testu was not ready to take the exam. She hardly felt like she was ready to be a Genin, let alone a Chuunin. If not for her two teammates pressuring her, then she would have backed out. She was not stupid - timid, yes - but not stupid.

_"The second ones you need to look out for are the Stone ninja. There's something wrong with them. Especially that Satoshi guy. Stay away from them, okay, Tetsu?"_

The campfire burned low.

The shadows were long and they danced around like specters. She held her kunai with a white knuckled grip. Her team stood back to back as they stared out into the night. They could hear something moving around their camp.

_"And whatever you do, there's one team you absolutely need to stay away from."_

"Tetsu-chan," Natsuo whispered, "When we saw your brother's team yesterday, which squads did he say to avoid? Those Stone ninja, the Mist guys, and-"

Her voice wavered, "The Leaf squad."

"Well," Jirochi spoke in hushed tones, "Besides running the hell away from them, your brother didn't really give any advice, did he?"

"N-no."

The fire crackled and flared.

Two yellow eyes - each the size of Tetsu's head - lit up. A low growl came from the creature's chest and a large paw the size of a small tree trunk entered the circle of light. The animal was a lumbering mass of muscle, fangs, and claws.

"J-Jirochi-san, it's a b-bear."

Natsuo's mouth dropped open.

The bear was larger than any animal they had ever seen in person. As it stalked into their camp, Tetsu realized that on all fours the beast was taller than her. It would have easily been three times her height on its hind legs. It was massive, but the detail that made her legs shake was the way that its eyes took everything in. This was not a simple animal.

There was a cruel intellect in its eyes and all of its focus was on her.

The bear went still and time itself seemed to go inert. Tetsu's throat tightened. She knew a life was going to be taken that night, whether it was one of her team or the animal. She could feel it in her bones. It was there to feed on them.

It shattered the silence with a roar and charged.

Tetsu's legs went numb. Each stride that the bear took toward her was a fluid roll of muscle. It was both terrible and beautiful.

A hand grasped her shirt and she was thrown out of the way.

The bear met with Jirochi and Natsuo while Tetsu picked herself up from the ground. In the flurry of activity, someone kicked the fire and sent embers flying through the air. The area lit up like hellfire was consuming everything.

The cruel, yellow eyes flashed from side to side as it swiped with its claws. Jirochi weaved and scrambled to avoid the attacks.

Until his back hit a tree.

"Jirochi!" Tetsu screeched.

Natsuo leapt on its back. He grabbed a fistful of its fur and held on with all of his might. He slashed at it again and again, but nothing would deter the animal.

Jirochi managed to roll away and in doing so freed himself from the tree and the animal. He had some gashes on his arms, but nothing that would kill him. Tetsu ran to his side to help him to his feet.

Natsuo's kunai glinted with blood in the dying light. With a full-bodied shake it threw the boy from his back. He landed in a heap several yards away.

Once again its eyes settled on Tetsu.

Jirochi stepped in front of her and unleashed a barrage of shuriken.

The bear unleashed a blood curdling shriek as they blinded it. It thrashed about - desperate to find its prey - but found nothing. It was finished.

Her teammates stepped toward the bear to end it and Tetsu covered her eyes. She did not have the heart to watch.

Once it was over, Natsuo whistled, "I've never seen a bear like that. We should skin it or something."

"We don't have time to stay around long," Jirochi shook his head. "Let's get some meat from it to eat. We need to find a Heaven scroll or this whole thing was for nothing."

Tetsu shook as she helped them carve into the carcass.

Food was difficult to find in the Forest of Death. Most of the vegetation was poisonous, most of the animals were either huge or venomous, and water had not been easy for them to locate. The trees were beyond the size of any Tetsu had seen surrounding Konoha. They were more like skyscrapers that grew together and intertwined over centuries than normal trees. She had seen a tree larger than the ones there before but never so many in one place.

"C-can we s-stay off the ground tonight?" She asked.

Natsuo wiped blood off his arms, "Yeah, it's worth a shot if we don't get jumped by another one of these monster bear things."

Jirochi nodded his approval.

They did not have long until morning. Although they agreed to shifts so that everyone could get some rest, Tetsu did not wake either of her teammates and watched until the sun rose. She could not rest with the sounds around them. While some might have assumed that the forest came to life during the day, it was actually most active at night. The animals began to hunt, insects swarmed, and enemy squads masked their presences to search for another group to attack.

The Forest of Death lived up to its name.

Tetsu vaguely remembered her Sensei mentioning something about Konoha Jounin using it as a training ground. After being in there for a few days, it did not surprise her. It took all of their survival lessons and a dose of luck to survive this long. They were just rookies, after all, and she knew they had no business taking the exam.

* * *

One thing that made this exam difficult was the scarcity of necessities. Food and water were near the top of the list for that - but they thankfully carried supplies with them into the ordeal that helped them for the first couple days. What made the exam so difficult was the scarcity of other teams, which in turn meant a scarcity of scrolls. At most, only six teams would progress to the next round.

A worried crinkle appeared between Tetsu's eyes.

That was, if the teams could even find each other to fight for scrolls. Twelve teams were released into the forest from different points. They each needed to acquire the scroll needed to complete their set and hurry to the tower at the middle of the forest within a week. In previous years that the exam was held in Konoha and the Forest of Death was utilized, more teams typically made it through to compete with each other.

Tetsu glanced over at her teammates and swallowed over a lump in her throat.

They had finally found another team.

It was a Grass squad. Three guys that were a few years older than them. There was nothing remarkable about their appearance. Each had brown hair, dark eyes, and skin that was tanned from the sun. Their clothing was basic and helped them blend in with their surroundings. She could not tell what their specializations were from their appearance and that made her nervous. She wished she was better at reading people, but she had a hard time picking up on the subtleties of a shinobi's behavior. They were different than civilians. Even being a Genin for a couple years made a person different than a rookie. She was not sure what to make of them.

All she knew was that her teammates had full intentions of ambushing them.

It was not the first time she had hidden under a bush with them. Every student in her Academy had went through basic survival training and they were all expected to know how to conceal themselves. Their Sensei reinforced their old lessons even though the two boys wanted to learn different techniques. The Jounin had the grace to not point out that he would not progress their training until they changed their attitude.

They were childish boys.

Not that they did not have their strong points or charming moments. Tetsu loved her teammates like they were her family. They grew up together. Their parents knew each other. In turn that meant she knew their weaknesses well, despite the show they tried to put on.

"We'll wait until they get a little closer," Jirochi whispered, "Right after they pass those puddles on the ground."

She swallowed once more over the lump in her throat and nodded. They were sprawled out, watching their targets traverse the forest floor. There were tree roots snaking around each other and various plants that were more often than not poisonous everywhere you looked. In just a few moments they would be in range for the ambush. Natsuo placed a hand on her shoulder to offer some support. She hated being as timid as she was, but she was grateful that they did not hate her for it.

The Grass squad stepped over the puddles and her teammates tensed.

"Okay, go-"

Three bodies rose from the pools of water, behind the unsuspecting Grass Genin.

Tetsu's team froze.

Behind their target was the Mist team. One was tall, had brown hair and light eyes. The second was the shortest, his hair was black, and his eyes were dark. The last was in between them in height, had darker skin, and his hair was a strange blue dye job. Tetsu strained to remember what she could of their group during the written exam, but she could not remember much.

_"That Mist squad is brutal."_

In a flash, each of the Grass nin had a katana blade at their throats, before they even realized what was going on.

"Finally!" The tallest of the Mist nin laughed.

"We've been running all over this damn forest for days trying to find someone," the shortest grimaced at their surroundings before he continued, "Good job thinking of this strat, Isao."

"Honestly, we're lucky these guys came along," the tallest, Isao, shrugged, "Besides, this doesn't mean anything if they don't have the right scroll."

"Isao's right, Kenji," The last member of their group spat on the ground, "Just what we'd need. Another group that got jumped by those Leaf nin."

"Oi, look at them. They're walking just fine, Yoshiro. None of the guys we jumped before were getting around this good," Isao replied.

The Grass nin that had Isao's blade at his throat reached for his kunai pouch. Isao's eyes narrowed and he brought his sword down so fast that the wind sang as he slashed through the Grass nin's arm. Muscle, sinew, and bone separated from each other as easily as he could have cut through paper.

Tetsu's stomach turned and she covered her mouth with both hands.

In the same fluid motion Isao brought the tsuka of his sword up and smashed it into the Grass nin's face. His nose shattered and he crumpled to the ground in a dazed mess.

Kenji knocked his captive unconscious in an instant.

The last captive tried to run. Yoshiro smirked and lashed at his legs.

He fell to the ground with a cry of pain and fear. His eyes were wide as he took in what happened to his team. The other two were not going to be up and moving for a while.

"P-please, don't hurt us anymore," he begged.

Yoshiro kicked him. An audible crack from his ribs breaking echoed off the trees and he rolled into the puddles the Mist nin used to hide. The grass nin started to beg again, but he was silenced when Yoshiro placed his foot on the back of his head and pushed his face into the puddle.

"Isao, you find a scroll yet?" Kenji asked as he searched through his captive's belongings.

Tears welled up in Tetsu's eyes as the Grass nin struggled pathetically against the foot holding him down. He was drowning.

"Not yet. Probably on Yoshiro's."

"Eh, don't need to kill the piece of trash," Kenji sighed, "What if it somehow disqualifies us?"

"How stupid," Yoshiro lifted his foot and the Grass nin gasped for air. "I think he has the scroll on him."

"Well, get it, then we'll get out of here. It had better be the right one," Isao spoke as he cleaned his blade.

"Bingo!" Kenji proclaimed, holding up a scroll.

"Good," Isao motioned for them to hurry, "Let's get to the tower before something stupid happens and we have to start this mess all over again."

"Right."

* * *

Tetsu's team ran as soon as the Mist ninja left. Without a word between each other, they ran until they were well out of the area. They only stopped running when Tetsu fell to her knees.

"W-we shouldn't be here," she cried, "We're not r-ready."

Jirochi knelt in front of her, "Calm down."

"We shouldn't be here." She shook her head, "We should l-leave - go to th-the tower - leave the forest - a-anything!"

Jirochi shook her, gently, "Stop!"

"Morino-san warned us!" She refused to stop, "D-Did you see his arm? H-he's going to l-lose it! There's n-no saving it!"

"I'm not okay with this whole thing meaning nothing. We'll find another group!" Natsuo said with as much finality as he could muster.

Tetsu covered her face and cried into her hands.

She hated being weak.

Hours later, after Tetsu's tears dried up, they were once again searching for another team of Genin. She was dejected and neither of her teammates would look directly at her. To say she was ashamed would have been an understatement. She may have only been twelve, but she was a shinobi and the way she acted was inappropriate at best.

"Look!" Natsuo whispered, "Over there!"

Tetsu peered over his shoulder to see where he was pointing. There were two squads gathered around a fire together.

"What I don't get is why a Rain team and a Grass team would be friendly with each other," Jirochi commented.

"Yeah, it don't make much sense," Natsuo agreed, "But they're not looking so hot."

Tetsu squinted. Her teammates were right. Both of the teams looked rough.

"I think we should see if they've got a scroll," Natsuo proposed.

"I don't think they will. They would be fighting right now if they did," Jirochi hypothesized.

"It's still worth a shot," Natsuo coaxed. "We could at least figure out what happened. I don't think they'll attack us or anything."

Jirochi frowned and then nodded, "Okay."

Tetsu followed them as they made their way through the trees and then over to the joint camp. As soon as their feet touched the ground and they showed themselves, one of the Rain nin struggled to his feet and faced them with a kunai in his hand.

"If you want a scroll," the Rain nin bristled at them, "Then you'd better look somewhere else. We don't have one."

Jirochi held his hands up, "Look, I didn't think you guys did. I just wanted to know what was up. We haven't seen two different countries working together since this thing started, so it caught our attention. I'm Jirochi and these two are Tetsu and Natsuo."

The Rain nin relaxed.

"My name's Hideo," he began, "and as for what happened to us? We got jumped and our scrolls were taken yesterday."

Tetsu wet her dry lips and eyed them up. Each of the Genin in front of them seemed to be having a hard time moving. Their faces were gaunt and their eyes darted around as if they were haunted by something. Each of them had isolated dark bruises in similar places - on their arms , legs, and hands - but she could not see anything that would warrant their crippled behavior.

"Eh, did you guys get beaten that bad?" Natsuo interjected, "I mean, you guys don't look too bad."

"I don't know what it is," Hideo explained as he looked down at his body, "But we woke up like this. Every movement burns like we've torn muscles or something, but we didn't do anything to warrant it and we can't remember how it would have happened."

"Well, who did this to you?" Jirochi inquired.

An uncomfortable, haunted look crossed his face and he averted his gaze, "We think it was the Leaf squad."

"You think?" Natsuo blurted out, "How can you seriously not remember who did this to you?"

Hideo bristled, "Look, we woke up this way. We don't remember everything. It all bleeds together and nothing makes sense, alright?"

Natsuo took a step back and looked away.

"My sensei told me before this began that those Leaf Genin were the personal students of Morino Ibiki," Hideo continued, "Sensei also said that Ibiki is over Konoha's Torture and Interrogation wing of ANBU. HIs little group of students have been collecting scrolls. There's usually one or two teams that do that every year the Forest of Death is used and they've made a point to slim down the number of people that will be making it to the next round. He's made some monsters and let them lose on us, is all I know."

Tetsu chewed on her lips, anxiously.

"Have you guys seen any other teams we need to look out for?"

"That Mist team will beat the hell out of you just to do it," Hideo spat, "Came across them abusing a Sand team that didn't even have a scroll."

Jirochi hummed to himself and replied, "We saw them jump a Grass team. They got their scroll and started toward the tower."

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," Hideo sighed.

"You guys heard or seen anything on the Stone team?" Natsuo inquired. "We got a heads up about them."

Tetsu shivered. She did not like that squad, at all. There was something about the way that the one named Satoshi would look at girls that made her cringe.

Hideo shook his head, "No. They're laying low, I think."

"Well," Jirochi looked over everyone, "What do you guys think you're going to do?"

"Watch each other's backs and make it to the tower without a scroll," Hideo replied, "I mean, we're finished. There's no way any of us can fight. The best we can do is hope that our numbers will keep wild animals away. Have you seen the _bears_ in this place?"

The memory of cruel eyes made Tetsu shift her weight from foot to foot, uncomfortably. She wanted to forget that ordeal.

"Hell yeah, we have!" Natsuo barked out, "Is there like something in the water here that makes them that big?"

Hideo grimaced, "They're not even good to eat."

"Right?!" Natsuo shuddered.

Jirochi interrupted them, "Well, we should probably head out. There's no point in us standing around here talking. There's not much longer until time's up for this part of the exam."

The Rain nin nodded in acknowledgment, "Well, good luck out there. I've been to several exams and I hoped this one would be the one my team made it all the way through, but so far it's been nothing but a shit show."

"Thanks," Jirochi replied.

"If anything happens to your team like it did to ours, you're welcome to join us. Safety in numbers and all that."

Jirochi nodded and threw a sloppy salute in his direction.

* * *

"I'm so tired of searching through this forest!" Natsuo whined. "I mean, why does there have to be so much ground to cover for this?"

"That's a stupid question." Jirochi retorted. "This test isn't supposed to be easy."

Natsuo's face scrunched up, "Who pissed on your bear meat this morning?"

Tetsu sighed as the boys started to bicker. She tuned them out. The stress of trying to find another scroll when there were dangerous teams lying in wait was getting to them all. When they got stressed, Jirochi and Natsuo always argued. Usually it was over nothing. They had always been that way.

"Shhh!" Jirochi hissed, "Do you hear that?"

They all stopped jumping through the trees and paused to listen. There was a melody playing on the air. It was not loud or overbearing, but it was definitely there. It sounded like a music box.

"You think that's someone's jutsu?" Natsuo whispered.

"Can't be sure." Jirochi whispered back.

"Well, it definitely means there's someone in the area." Natsuo looked around, "We should go check it out."

"It could be a trap," Jirochi shook his head, "and we don't know which team it is."

"I doubt any of the baddies out here would be toting a music box or whatever that thing is. It sounds like one, anyway." Natsuo shot back.

Jirochi shrugged in exasperation, "Fine! We'll go look, but we have to stay on our toes."

Tetsu thought they needed to turn around and run to either the tower or out of the forest, but knew that her suggestion would not be appreciated.

They continued at a slower pace. All of her hair stood on end. She strained her eyes as she looked all around them. The fear of not knowing what they were going to find was eating at her nerves. She was tired of being the scared one in their group, but she could not help it. At the very least, she could be a good look out, even if she would be next to no help in a fight.

Everything around her came into sharp focus. She had never noticed how terrible and beautiful the Forest of Death was, just like she never thought a bear could be both terrifying and magnificent before they were attacked by one. This place was ancient and it was lovely.

She wondered how many lives had begun there and how many had been lost there.

Her eyes continued to search. She half expected to see creatures and faces of people long since departed. She would never deny that there was something almost spiritual about that place. It made her feel insignificant.

Tetsu realized suddenly that she was out of breath.

She inhaled, deeply, and regarded her friends. They looked tired, too. It made sense since they had been going nonstop for days now. A frown tugged at her lips. She did not like the idea of them being exhausted.

Her nose itched and she scratched at it.

Natsuo sneezed, "Ugh, I think we must've gotten into some pollen or something. I'm kinda itching."

Jirochi shot him a funny look, but did not comment.

Her feet felt heavy. She did not realize she had gotten such a small amount of rest. It must have been because they were coming down to the last days and the desperation and anxiety to achieve success had sapped the energy from her.

"L-let's slow down," she whispered.

The two boys did not argue.

She grabbed a hold of a tree to balance herself and marveled at how perfect the bark was. She had never noticed how beautiful a tree could be before.

"You okay?" Jirochi shot her an inquisitive look.

"F-Fine." She pushed off the tree and followed closely behind them.

They found the music box on the ground at the base of a tree. A kunoichi spun in circles on the top as it played its song. They stood around it for a moment before it stopped playing and the kunoichi ceased making its rounds. The lack of the melody made the area seem hollow, somehow.

Natsuo opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. His eyelids drooped in exhaustion. Tetsu took a step toward him, but her knees buckled and she collapsed. Natsuo joined her on the ground and then Jirochi. She took ragged, desperate breaths - she had to stay awake. She had to do something. This was bad.

All at once the beautiful scenery around her began to change. The colors and sharp shapes began to run together and somehow _melt_. It was like her reality was coming undone. Tetsu did not know what was real and what was not. Her world was sliding away and being altered like a painter's canvas.

She could not move.

She wanted to get up. With everything in her she wanted to run away, but her body would not listen. She could not even move her fingers. She was paralyzed and unable to do anything.

A figure moved above her and came into focus.

She looked over at her teammates, hoping against hope that they could do anything and her heart skipped a beat. They were covered in insects. Almost every inch of their body was carpeted by them.

How long had they been carrying them without realizing it?

She looked back to the figure that stared down at them like a demon stalking its prey. He wore a coat that covered almost all of his body. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. Insects streamed out of every opening in his clothing.

The droning of the bugs became so loud that it drowned out her own thoughts. She strained against her body and gnashed her teeth with the effort, but it was pointless. This place was hell. They were at the mercy of this person - if he even was a _person_ \- and she knew they would find no kindness there.

_"And whatever you do, there's one team you absolutely need to stay away from."_

He wore a hitai-ate with a leaf carved into it.

Panic set in.

Another form came into focus beside him - another guy. He appeared out of nowhere, as if he had been there the entire time but she had somehow not noticed him. He looked over the three of them like they were not even there and pulled out a paintbrush and a scroll. There was no empathy or concern in his behavior. It was like Tetsu's team was nothing more than another tree.

Lastly, another figure came into focus. This time it was a girl. The Leaf kunoichi stepped over Jirochi and picked up the music box.

"Is it safe to call the Kikaichu off?" The first boy - Tetsu recognized him as one of the Aburame - asked in a bored tone.

"Oh, yeah, it is." The kunoichi replied, absently, as she examined the music box. "Actually, they're close to taking too much of their chakra."

The boy with the paintbrush rolled his eyes at the kunoichi's back, "Girls and their trinkets. Let's go ahead and finish up here."

The insects began to move back to their vessel.

"This makes the last Waterfall team," the Aburame commented.

Tetsu's heart drummed against her ribcage. They had gotten her brother.

"Not many left now. We should probably go to the tower soon," the kunoichi replied.

She moved over to Jirochi, pushed him onto his back and then made a hand-seal. Chakra came to her hand and she systematically pressed her fingers against each of the boy's arms, his hands, and his legs in specific places. Exactly where the Rain squad and Grass squad had bruises. The kunoichi was crippling the competition one by one.

In moments she had done the same to Natsuo.

Tears ran down Tetsu's face as the kunoichi knelt in front of her. This medic ninja was different than Tetsu. The Leaf squad was different than her squad. The kunoichi that stared down at Tetsu knew exactly what she was doing. There was no doubt in her brown eyes and there was no hesitation in the way that she moved. This girl looked to be only a year older than Tetsu, but they were as different as night and day.

Morino Ibiki had done well.

"This one's still awake," she commented, "Oh, you don't need to cry. Ready or not, it will be over soon."

Tetsu's team were sheep and they were the wolves.

The kunoichi raised a hand that glowed with green chakra and placed it over Tetsu's forehead. Everything bled into a nightmare in which she did not know reality from dream.

She had not been ready.

* * *

Aright, thank you to everyone who read this chapter. I hope that you enjoyed it and that it did not come off as confusing, boring, or stupid. Please overlook any typos that may have found their way in. It's easy to overlook them. haha Please, let me know what your opinion of this chapter is. I did not think that I would write it from a different perspective originally, but it happened and I hope it turned out alright. We'll be back with Arashi's group from here on out. If you have any suggestions or criticisms - please share them in a review or in a message. I love all forms of feedback and it helps motivate me.

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**True Guardian Angel:** I'm glad that you loved the last chapter. :) I hope that you enjoy this one, as well. As for Satoshi, you'll learn a little more about him soon. Thanks for the review!

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Note: I totally forgot to put page breaks in when I first posted this chapter, so now I'm replacing it with the version that has the breaks. Woops.


	13. For Whom the Bell Tolls

**Chapter 13: For Whom the Bell Tolls**

This is a chapter that I have really looked forward to writing for a long time now. A scene in this chapter is one that I wrote over a year ago - well before I began part 1 of this project. I know the last chapter was different than all the other ones, but it was a method to show how Arashi's group appeared to the other groups. We're right back with them now. Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who continued to read. Thank you to everyone who follows, reviews, and adds this fanfic as a favorite. You are all lovely. :D The poem quoted in this chapter is by John Donne.

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**Songs: **Naruto Shippuden OST - Emergence of Talents, Naruto Shippuden OST - Flying Light

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**Chapter Summary:** _When wolves clash and the bell tolls._

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**Chapter 13: For Whom the Bell Tolls**

**"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls..."**

"Well," Daisuke looked over a piece of paper, "Looks like we've wiped out half of the teams."

"What's the count?" Akio shifted to look over Daisuke's shoulder.

"Three Waterfall teams, one Sand, one Grass, and one Rain," Daisuke replied. "This plan of yours worked out really good. Who would've thought Shi-Shi-chan could think up something so effective."

Arashi glared at him, "With how lacking we are in combat, it's a good idea to cut down on the competition as much as we can this round. You know what comes next."

"The final round where they throw us in an arena and people cheer as we get our faces beaten in?" Daisuke asked with mock sweetness.

Akio snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, that," Arashi's nose rose into the air. "It's nice to see you take this seriously."

"Yeah, whatever, snob," Daisuke tucked his list away. "I really wanted to get a shot at that Lightning squad. One of those guys sat right next to me and called me a _faggot_. I was going to carve that right into his forehead after you were done with him."

She rolled her eyes.

"Screw the Leaf this," Daisuke continued trying to impersonate the Lighting nin, "You're all pussies that."

She tuned him out.

The plan had been more effective than she thought it would be. The first two days they went around setting up Daisuke's genjutsu in zones. The fact that his technique required paint made it possible. The paint could blend in perfectly with the surroundings, dry, and remain for days until one of their targets entered the area and triggered the genjutsu. All they had to worry about was keeping Daisuke's camouflage jutsu - the Kamofuraaji jutsu - active and using Arashi's sensory skills to track and then gradually herd targets into the zones. After the genjutsu was triggered, Akio sent his bugs in to devour their target's chakra until they collapsed and were no longer able to move. Once Arashi sensed that they could not defend themselves anymore, she moved in and used her chakra scalpel to make strategic incisions in their muscles to render them crippled and no longer a threat until well after this round would be completed.

It was cold, calculated, and effective.

While some teams preferred violence as a means to get their scrolls, her team had prospered by using their individual skills together to make a trap. She was proud and she was sure their Sensei would be, as well.

"I don't think I've ever used so much chakra," Daisuke mumbled.

"What? Do you need me to transfer more of mine to you?" Arashi asked, dryly.

"Look, not everyone runs around with a chakra pool the size of a lake, alright?" Daisuke crossed his arms and sniffed. "When did you even find the time to learn that technique, anyway?"

"While I was doing research for my project."

"Aren't you still researching it?"

"Well, I have a, uh, prototype of sorts."

He raised an eyebrow, "Right. That doesn't sound safe."

"Screw you-" Arashi hissed.

"How many scrolls do we have now?" Akio interrupted them. "How many of each kind?"

"Four Heaven and three Earth," Arashi replied. "We have most of today and all of tomorrow to make it to the tower."

Akio nodded, satisfied with the answer, "We should conceal a set in each of our bags."

"Just in case we get split up or something bad happens?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Alright, that's a good idea." She pursed her lips as she divided them into sets. "Honestly, it kinda creeped me out that you guys shoved all of them at me to carry. I mean, it's not like I'm _already_ a target as a medic ninja or anything."

"Yeah and it's not like we haven't pissed off every other person in the forest, either," Daisuke added. "You had nothing to worry about."

"Oh yeah, nothing at all," She deadpanned, "Anyway, do you guys want me to seal these into another scroll or are you two alright carrying them as they are now?"

The two boys thought about it for a few seconds.

_And they call me indecisive._

"I guess seal them. That way if something happens, then whoever the enemy is won't even know what to look for," Daisuke decided.

Akio nodded his approval.

She arched an eyebrow at them, "Do you guys know how to unseal them if something were to happen to _me_?"

"Uh, yeah," Daisuke rolled his eyes. "You're not the only person that paid attention to that lesson in the Academy. Storage scrolls are easy. It's that other weird crap you do that gets complicated."

Arashi chose to not acknowledge him and instead pulled out three scrolls to seal the sets into. Within a moment they were all safely hidden away.

"Who wants to take the spare Heaven scroll?" She asked.

She was answered by two shrugs.

"Okay, I'll take it," She tucked the storage scroll away.

Their time in the Forest of Death had not been terrible. They were tired and all ready for a hot shower, but their experience had been much better than most of the other Genin's experience there. Their Academy Sensei had been thorough with their survival training. Arashi remembered going through lessons on which plants were poisonous along with their botany lessons. She enjoyed those days - even if Daisuke always beat her floral arrangements - and she took the knowledge to heart. Both of her teammates were just as knowledgeable with traversing and surviving in the terrain.

_Yeah, Ibiki Sensei did a good job getting us ready for this step._ She glanced around. _This place would have been a living hell without all of that hard work._

In truth, she found the forest to be unnerving, but not necessarily because of the place itself - even if the bears were demon-spawn that would track someone for miles to assault them for a crumb in their pack. What unnerved her was the fact that Satoshi's chakra signature was always nearby, but distant enough to stay away from all of the genjutsu zones. She never wanted to see the guy again after his behavior during the written exam, but she quietly hoped he would get himself stuck in one of their traps so that they could remove him from competing with them.

_It's like he knew where the zones were every time. _She chewed on her lip. _Like he knew where we were the whole time, too._

A shiver ran up her spine.

_But, that's just a coincidence, right? Just a.. ridiculous coincidence._

"Oi, are you ignoring me?" Daisuke waved a hand in her face.

"Huh? What?"

"You were totally zoned out," he explained. "Me and Akio are ready to go if you are. We've got a little ground to cover and since we've screwed over half the people in this forest, I figure we should go ahead and start on our way."

"We should be cautious," Akio explained. "There could be traps."

"Yeah, I guess we could've made some enemies lately. Let's go."

Arashi felt at home in trees.

She did not know anyone in Konoha that did not link the forests around the village to being a part of their home. Even though she did not have the luxury of safety while in the middle of their exam, Arashi was not overly worried. The main thing her team needed to maintain was a heightened level of consciousness. Three pairs of eyes scanning their surroundings and Arashi's innate ability to sense chakra signatures made their overall awareness abnormally high.

_I might have sucked in the written exam, but here is where I prosper. I'll just try to not think about the next round. I'm going to be so screwed in a one on one fight._

She peered at Daisuke from the corner of her eye.

_I mean, sure his jutsu requires set up, but he stores genjutsu in scrolls. He might try to play it off like they're _just_ paintings, but I'm not dumb. They're packed with his chakra._

She turned her attention to her other side where Akio was.

_And Akio? That guy's a tank. He'll be just fine._

She turned her attention forward and continued scanning for danger.

_I don't know a single offensive ninjutsu and my genjutsu is pathetic at best. I'm just lucky they required only the most basic level of illusions to graduate from the Academy._

"What? Did you smell something bad?" Daisuke inquired in his mock-sweet voice, "Because you've got a weird grimace on your face."

"What?" She forced her face back into a passive expression. "No. It's nothing."

Instead of relief to be heading toward the tower in order to finish the test, she felt dread. Team Morino had undeniably been the hunters, but at that moment she did not feel like she was in control. She felt like there was something wrong.

Her lips drew into a thin line when she realized what it was.

There was a group of three signatures following them and even though they were still at a distance, they were gradually catching up. That they were being tracked did not bother her - others had tried over the past several days to locate them - but because of Daisuke's jutsu none were able to find them. What bothered her was that she recognized this particular signature all too well.

Satoshi.

She had no idea how he was doing it. He was always nearby, but far enough to be safe from their genjutsu zones. She had no doubt that it was intentional. There was no way that it was just a coincidence. Satoshi's group had been hunting _them_ and they were just now making their move conveniently when they were nowhere near a genjutsu zone to take cover in.

_How the hell have they been able to tell?_

Arashi was not sure exactly how long it would take her group to get to the tower, but she had a feeling they were still too far away to make a safe dash to it for cover.

"Guys, we have an incoming team," she announced.

Akio's attention snapped to her, "How far away are they?"

"A decent distance away," she replied.

"Well, let's just finish this test and ignore them," Daisuke suggested. "I'm sure we can outrun them."

"We might be able to beat them to the tower, but if we run into one of the other teams then we're screwed. We could run straight into a trap because of our rush and then either that team will take us out or we'll end up fighting both around the same time." Arashi explained. "We're coming down to the wire. Desperate teams will probably be setting up around the tower to ambush anyone who's gotten too careless. It's what I'd do in their situation."

"You're right. We'd be screwed if either of those situations happed," Daisuke admitted. "Which group is after us?"

"The Stone group," she replied.

"Oh, hell, those creeps?" Daisuke sniffed. "What were their names again?"

"Satoshi's the one with blue eyes, Ryota is the one with black hair, and the guy with blond hair is Soma," Akio replied. "I got their names during the written exam. I thought they might be trouble after how Satoshi acted."

A chill ran up Arashi's spine, "Yeah."

"Well, what do you propose we do?" Daisuke asked. "Use my Kamofuraafi jutsu and then jump them?"

"I'm thinking we'll have more of a fight on our hands than that. It's like they've been tracking us the whole time and avoiding our traps." Arashi explained.

"What? Like how?" Daisuke demanded.

"Maybe they're tracking us by scent?" Arashi suggested.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Daisuke hissed. "You know, used that sign language Ibiki Sensei taught us to say, 'hey guys, there's someone following us' earlier if speaking up was so hard? We could've made some time for this so we wouldn't have to deal with it now."

"You know what, here's some sign language," she waved her middle finger at him.

He glared at her, distastefully.

"Anyway, I thought I was just being paranoid." She explained. "It just seemed crazy."

"They could've figured out we use paint. Avoided the areas where they caught a whiff of any of it?" Akio suggested.

"Yeah, but my paint is practically odorless. My father taught me how to make it when I was little. It's a clan secret that's been passed down." Daisuke argued.

"Regardless, we need to set up while we still have the time." Akio replied.

"Yeah," Arashi agreed. "Let's get to work. We don't have much time."

* * *

Arashi signed to her teammates from her perch.

They chose to set up in several trees clustered together. Arashi concealed herself in one, up high where she could keep an eye on what was going on. If a fight were to break out, she could analyze their techniques, figure out their strategies, or even lend a helping hand in some way. Even if she was not supposed to enter direct combat, it did not mean she could not throw a kunai here and there.

Daisuke signed back to her that he was ready.

Across from her in another tree Daisuke added the last touches of paint to a branch. If they were being tracked by the scent of paint, he was determined to throw their adversaries off the trail. Each tree in the area had traces of his paint.

Akio signed that he was ready, as well.

Lastly, Akio settled in a tree across from both of his teammates. Kikaichu were already stationed around the area, waiting for a signal to begin an attack. Out of their entire team, he was the calmest about the battle they were about to be involved in.

Daisuke's jutsu kept them hidden, but she felt like she was out in the open.

_Here they come. It's unnerving how they've done this. No one else was able to be this accurate or cautious._

Her spine stiffened as, just as she expected, Satoshi's squad landed on a branch near her team. His teammates wore the same simple clothing that he did. Their heights were similar, but one had black hair and the other had blond. Satoshi carried a spear with him, but none of the others seemed to have any weapons out of the standard gear assigned to a shinobi.

_Okay, so Soma's the blond and Ryota's the one with black hair. Got it._ She narrowed her eyes. _What's up with their skin?_

Arashi could sense a dense layer of chakra coating their skin. She signed to her teammates to be cautious.

_Is it some sort of armor? Is that dirt? I guess it makes sense. They have earth affinities._

"I don't see anyone here." Soma stated, flatly. "Are you sure they're around here?"

"Oh, I'm sure." Satoshi replied. "They're just hidden."

Ryota sneered, "Probably have some of those damn bugs waiting for us, too."

_Okay, so far it's going alright._

Satoshi looked directly at Arashi and that same predatory glint came into his eyes.

"Hey, doll. Been a while."

Her blood ran cold in her veins, _What the hell. He shouldn't see me. He can't._

His grip tightened on the spear and then he threw it.

Arashi leapt out of the way just in time and landed on the side of another tree. With wide eyes she looked back to see the spear deeply imbedded where she was perched before.

_He can!_

She turned and ran up the tree. Satoshi retrieved his weapon and turned to pursue her. The sound of the three chasing after her made her ears burn. She signed quickly to her teammates to wait.

She had something for the Stone nin.

_Peel them off my trail, return to the guys, and go from there._

She leapt over to another tree and across a massive branch. Satoshi's group was right behind her.

_Perfect._

She formed a hand-seal. The last time she had used this particular fuinjutsu against someone, it was to blow up Daisuke's paint. Patches of the branch and trees around them glowed as hidden fuinjutsu activated.

Satoshi's eyes widened.

The entire area lit up as the fuinjutsu exploded.

The trees not affected swayed from the blast and pieces of wood and debris rained down. The signatures of the three Stone nin were unaffected.

_That armor must be some serious stuff. They were in proximity of that blast, but they're fine. Stunned, maybe, but fine._

Arashi veered away from her course and turned to reunite with her group.

"What was that?" Daisuke whispered.

Akio hovered nearby.

She blurted everything out as fast as she could, "Guys, they've got some sort of armor and it can take a lot of damage. They stood in that and they're still alive. They're on their way here, so we need to get going. That Satoshi guy can see me somehow and he can probably see you two, as well."

They nodded and everyone found another place to conceal themselves.

From his spot, Daisuke made several hand-seals and the paint all around the area faded into the trees. Arashi felt slightly dizzy as the genjutsu settled into the area.

The Stone nin arrived and looked around.

_Just like I thought. They're alright. Not even ruffled. Maybe the blast _did_ do something to their armor, but if it did then they repaired it before coming back over here._

The Kikaichu swarmed them, but instead of reacting to the insects, they seemed mildly annoyed. Arashi's eyes narrowed.

_That armor stuff is resistant to the Kikaichu. A normal Genin would be crippled by all of those insects devouring their chakra, but they're having a hard time working through that armor._

"Heh, a mild genjutsu? Try not to get dizzy guys," Satoshi declared. "Let's start hunting!"

His teammates nodded. Satoshi clenched a fist and slammed it on the branch. With a crack it split apart. The vibrations shook the insects from their skin and the Genin split up.

_That strength! Okay, Ryota's up there, waiting and Soma's going toward Daisuke,_ her eyes widened, _And of course Satoshi's-_

Arashi leapt back as Satoshi lunged at her with his spear. She ducked beneath another swipe and jumped to different branch.

The blade of Satoshi's spear sliced through the air as he brought it down toward her. She tensed and prepared to roll out of the way.

Akio appeared in front of her and blocked the attack with his arm. The filaments of the insects coating his forearm trapped the blade against him. Satoshi sneered. Akio wiped the expression off his face with a full-bodied punch that knocked him off the branch.

Satoshi landed on the side of another tree and glared up at them with several cracks in his armor.

Akio threw the spear away. It sailed through the air and disappeared out of sight. Satoshi looked scandalized and dropped down to the ground to search for his weapon.

Arashi smothered a laugh, _I guess he liked that stupid thing._

Daisuke's Kamofuraaji jutsu dissipated.

_Crap._

Soma went on the move toward Daisuke.

"Akio, Ryota's moving to flank us," she whispered and pointed to their left, "I'm going to go give Daisuke some support."

Akio nodded and they split up.

Daisuke ducked under a punch. Soma's fist connected with the tree trunk behind Daisuke's head and left a deep impression. He was trying to get his hands on a scroll that contained one of his genjutsu, but Soma would not relent.

Arashi's lips thinned into a line as she ran up the tree toward them. She focused a chakra scalpel into her hand and lunged at an opening.

Her fingers struck Soma's torso - right below his lungs. The scalpel managed to pass through the armor and she felt it hit his diaphragm. If not for his armor, she was convinced it would have done much more damage.

Soma choked and clenched his chest.

While the Stone ninja struggled to catch his breath Daisuke grabbed his scroll, opened it wide and held it in front of his enemy. Soma's eyes widened in terror.

The chakra from the scroll overwhelmed the Stone ninja and after a few seconds of a strangled cry, he collapsed on the branch.

_I hope I never find out what kind of illusions Daisuke uses on people._

She sensed Akio's signature moving into position to attack Ryota. With a nod, Daisuke moved to conceal himself again and Arashi ran to join up with Akio.

She jumped from one branch to another and as she was midair, the sound of kunai whistling toward her caught her attention. Arashi's eyes widened. Ryota had predicted her move.

She would be unable to dodge.

A weighted wire wrapped around her waist and she was tugged out of the way.

Arashi twisted and landed on her feet next to Akio. He nodded to her and dropped the wire so that she could untie herself.

"Thanks," She whispered.

He touched her shoulder and sprinted after Ryota.

_We have to figure out a way to get through that armor. My scalpel did it. His punch damaged Satoshi's, but didn't seem to actually hurt him. I need to figure something out that the guys can use against them. Genjutsu worked, but we can't use that when they're focusing Daisuke._

She pulled a kunai from her pouch and focused her chakra into it.

Her natural affinity was wind and the chakra scraped against itself in opposite directions to form a deadly tip. She searched the area and found Ryota trying to evade Akio.

_Let's give this a shot!_

She ran a couple steps and threw the kunai toward the Stone nin.

Ryota managed to avoid most of the damage, but the blade glanced off his shoulder and sliced right through his armor.

_Excellent!_

Arashi moved closer to Daisuke to get a better position to support Akio. The Aburame was in a heated match of taijutsu with the Stone nin.

_I can't really throw one of these things right now. If I hit Akio he's as good as dead._

Satoshi's signature was suddenly very close.

Arashi's eyes widened, _He wasn't that fast before! I guess he found his spear._

Her eyes settled on Soma - who had begun to stir - and then on Daisuke who had his back toward Satoshi's incoming path.

_No! No! No! _She focused chakra into her legs and sprinted toward him. "Daisuke!"

Arashi caught sight of Satoshi preparing to throw his spear. She grabbed Daisuke's shirt, threw him, and barely rolled out of the way as the weapon pierced into the tree.

_Too close!_

She jumped to her feet and started to leap away - but a hand caught the back of her shirt and she was jerked back against a chest. She tensed and started to struggle.

A kunai was pressed against her neck.

She went still and the blood in her veins turned to ice. Her instincts called out for her to fight back, to struggle, to break away - anything, but the blade pressed against her neck held her in place. Her blood trickled out from beneath the tip.

It was Satoshi. This time he did not have his armor intact. She assumed that was how he was able to move faster. The weight of the armor must have slowed him down.

"You've been pretty busy, huh?" He whispered into her ear. "I started to think I wouldn't get a chance to see you this round."

Arashi steeled her nerves and kept her tone even as she spoke, "Why are you doing this?"

"My whole life I didn't look at people the same way everyone else did and I think you're like me. I noticed when you walked in to the exam room. You don't see a person's face first. You see their chakra, too, don't you?" He stroked her hair with his free hand. "What does it look like to you? I could never make out much. Kinda like looking into the sky for stars, but most of 'em are hidden behind clouds."

_That's how he knew where the traps were._

Daisuke and Akio stood, frozen. Satoshi's two teammates stood at a safe distance from hers and watched the scene with expressions of exasperation.

"Great, he's doing this _again,_" Ryota spat. "Just great."

_Again?_

"Your skin looks like, porcelain, doll. If I dropped you, would you break into a million little pieces?"

Arashi tried to calm herself, "You should let me go. I'll give you a scroll and we won't have to fight anymore like this. We can settle whatever issue you have in the next round."

"Issue?" His voice took on an awestruck tone, "If everyone else is like a star hidden behind a cloud, you're like the moon. The clouds can't hide you. I can't see anything but you. I can't think about anything except for _you_."

He smelled her hair and nestled his nose behind her ear. Bile rose in the back of her mouth when she felt his tongue snake out to lick her earlobe.

"Stop." Arashi's voice shook. "Just stop."

"You're blinding me," Satoshi's voice broke, "and I'm tired of being blind."

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back.

_"Just be safe."_

Then, without any hesitation he sliced her throat open from one ear to the other.

Her teammates yelled out her name as blood sprayed out from her. She did not hear them. She could not breathe. Satoshi stepped to the side and tugged her backwards. She fell off the branch and plummeted toward the ground.

She choked on her own blood as it blocked her airways and filled her lungs. Warmth rushed to her neck as the seals activated. She pressed her hands over the laceration and tried to heal herself. Any concentration she had was shattered as she crashed through leaves and branches.

Arashi slammed into the ground so hard that it forced any remaining air and blood out of her lungs. She gasped for breath so desperately that her body shook with the effort.

Her mind whirled with delirium and panic. Her body was already clammy and a sheen of sweat coated her skin where she was not drenched in blood. The world spun around her, but she knew she had to do something.

She had lost too much blood and was going into Hemorrhagic shock.

Her heart hammered against her ribs - she was sure a couple of them were broken - and she could not entirely catch her breath. She needed a blood transfusion. With an act of sheer will and determination she struggled to elevate her legs against a tree.

Pain jolted through her body and her senses burned.

One of her legs was broken, too, but she managed to prop them up. Then, with shaky hands she reached into her medical pouch. Her fingers were numb, but she managed to find a plasma pill to take. It was not a transfusion, but it was all she had. She felt detached as she noticed her fingernails were blue.

Arashi wanted to be home. She wanted to wrap herself in her blankets - she was so cold - and read a book. She wanted to run into her dad's arms. She missed her mother and her little brother.

She severely needed a dose of epinephrine. Her heart was struggling to pump blood through her body. Her organs were going to fail. She was slipping away.

She had some sealed away in her medical pouch. She just needed to reach in there, unseal it, and inject it.

_Almost there..._

Her arm stopped working.

Arashi blacked out.

**"It tolls for thee."**

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And this is the end of chapter 13! It was nice to be back with Arashi again. Her little group has gradually grown on me a bit. Thank you to everyone who read through this chapter and I apologize if the fight sequence became confusing. It's hard to write fights without them becoming jumbled up and messy. It's hard to make it flow fluidly. If anyone has any advice for how to write them better, please say so in a review or in a message. If anyone has any opinions, criticisms, or suggestions then feel free to leave a review.

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**True Guardian Angel**: Well, here's another chapter! Let me know what you think of this one. hahah

**534667lc:** Thank you for the review! And yes, I find the idea of the Aburame to be relatively creepy. I sort of wish Shino would have gotten more attention because of how intimidating and potentially dangerous his clan is. Ohhh well.

**Be-Mindful**: I'm glad that you liked the written portion of the exam. It took me a while to write it and to figure out what I sort of wanted to do with it. I didn't want to just rip off what Naruto went through, so I added a trick question. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, as well. :)


	14. Lamentations in the Forest of Death

**Chapter 14: Lamentations in the Forest of Death**

Alright, time to see how Arashi handles passing out from blood loss after getting her throat cut wide open.

Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and adds this fanfiction as a favorite. I think you are all lovely people. :D This is another chapter I've looked forward to. In fact, I'll probably love writing every chapter all the way through the Chuunin Selection Exam. I've also decided to focus a little more on the jutsu being used. Early on it didn't feel as necessary, since new Genin aren't packing an arsenal, but as these guys grow, so too will their pool of jutsu. Hopefully, it'll add a little bit of flavor.

* * *

**Songs:** Naruto Shippuden OST - Kushina Uzumaki, Broken Iris - Broken Inside.

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** Time is almost up and Arashi's stuck between a rock and a hard place.

* * *

**Lamentations in the Forest of Death**

Arashi felt sick.

Not the kind of sick that comes from a cold or the kind that comes from any sort of infection. Her mind tried to assess the symptoms that she was experiencing, but she could not form thoughts. She was in limbo and she was slipping away.

She was dying.

It made sense, somehow. Without being able to consider the situation, she accepted it. The bits of broken memories and half thoughts comforted her as she drifted. She had lived a short, but good life. There were people that loved her and she lived in a country that had known relative peace for almost a decade. If she left, it would not be like they _needed_ her. It did not matter.

The wounds that she had from the attack were serious. Most people never would have survived them - let alone a thirteen year old girl.

Her mind wrapped itself around a single thought: _never_.

She would never get to see her dreams come to fruition, she would never experience her first kiss, she would never get to usher in the next generation or anything. She was to die young - murdered in the Forest of Death.

Mental haze or not, she knew this was not who she was and this was not what was meant to happen to her.

Her pulse began to pick up.

She had a father and a mother, a brother and Naruto, a team and friends. She had a dream. She had a purpose. If she died then she had nothing.

If she died, she would be _nothing._ She would be nothing but a little doll that was shattered into a million pieces and discarded by a psychopath.

Her existence was consumed by a _refusal_ to be that.

Arashi gasped awake.

Her reality was one of a deep ache that blinded the rest of her senses. She felt like she had been beating her head against Death's door all night.

Unconsciousness beckoned to her from the corners of her mind. Her limbs felt weighted down and her skin was sticky with dried blood. Her throat was dry and swallowing was painful, but she was able to breathe. Discomfort was better than choking to death. Pain radiated from her leg - which she was sure was broken.

_I'm alive for whatever that's worth._

She took a breath and held it.

_I don't sense Akio or Daisuke nearby. I don't know what to think of that. Either they got away or they're dead right now._

She exhaled.

_My ribs healed while I was out. _She brought her hands up and felt her ribcage. _Pretty good result from my project for a test run, I guess._

She looked around with bleary eyes. Her glasses were within reach, so she steeled her nerves and grabbed them. It hurt to move, but it was necessary. She needed to see if she was to repair the rest of the damage done to her body. Once they were returned to her face, she laid her head back on the ground and looked upward.

It was morning.

_I don't think I've ever felt so exhausted before. _She turned her head to the side and searched her surroundings. _This wasn't where I was yesterday._

Arashi was several feet away from where she propped herself against a tree before. She knew she had not moved on her own - unless she seized and then struggled while she was unconscious. Her stomach turned as she looked over the bloodstained dirt.

_How did I not die? _She closed her eyes. _I must have one hell of a life force. That or Mom's right and I'm the most stubborn girl ever born._

The events of the previous day played through her mind. It made her want to throw up. She felt weak and powerless. She had never felt like a victim before in her life. It made her feel dirty.

She bit her lip and forced herself to think of the situation at hand. She was in the middle of the Forest of Death, there were other squads lurking around, she could not feel her teammates anywhere nearby, she was severely injured, and she was alone. Her situation was bleak at best.

_Great._

She mustered as much strength as she could and sat up.

_Oh yeah... that's a broken leg. That's definitely a broken leg._

If the situation was not such a nightmare, she might have laughed - or cried - either would have worked, but instead she felt detached. It was like a horror story that one of the older, retired shinobi would tell their grandchildren to spook them, except she was living it and it was not just a story.

_I have to set the bone, mend everything back together and get to that tower._

Arashi examined the injury. The area below her knee was swollen, but at the very least it was a closed fracture. The last thing she needed was an open wound with a bone sticking out at her. From what she could tell the swelling was not severe enough to denote an artery was ruptured. A nasty bruise was alright; she would not drown on her own blood from a bruise.

As she was designing her project, she had realized that in its early stage the jutsu would be unable to properly handle severely broken bones. It had taken care of her ribs because, although they were broken, they were not fractured into pieces and they had not punctured into her lungs. Her leg, on the other hand, needed the bone to be corrected before the medical ninjutsu would mend it back together. It was a safety precaution until she could do more extensive testing.

It struck her that she never gave her project a name.

For months upon months she poured her life into creating it but she was too scared it would be a failure to give it a name. She sniffled. Her nameless jutsu pulled through for her.

_It deserves a name._

She could feel a couple teams in the area. One was the Lightning squad, the other was a Sand squad. Anything was better than having another run in with Satoshi, but the thought did not comfort her. She needed to get herself functioning before someone found her. She doubted anyone would be merciful after what she and her team had been up to.

_Okay, set the bone, heal the damage. No biggie._

Arashi had set her fair share of broken bones, but none of them had ever been her own. She hesitated. It was going to hurt.

_Get over it. This has to be done._

Arashi grabbed a piece of bark and bit down on it. She drug herself to a tree to prop herself up. Each jar to her leg sent a scorching, burning pain through her body.

_It's good my jutsu didn't mess with this bone. I can't imagine what I'd do if it accidentally melded the bone together crooked._

She took a deep breath and bit down hard on the bark.

Her muffled scream echoed off the trees around her as she slid the bone back into place.

Once she caught her breath again, she channeled her chakra into a Shosen no jutsu and poured it into her leg. Thunder boomed over her head and rain began to pour down. Within moments she was drenched.

Her first thoughts were of trying to find a warm place to take shelter until it passed, but as the water washed the blood from her skin, she felt rejuvenated. She grabbed onto a tree and pulled herself to her feet. Her balance was unstable at first, but she was standing and that was an accomplishment. She turned her face to the rain and held her hands out.

The rain was cleansing her.

_Fuin Shugotenshi?_

The fuinjutsu hidden within her body had been like a guardian angel, after all.

_Terrible name, but it works._

Arashi dug through her pack and fished out a Military Rations Pill. She wanted to gag as she ate it, but it was another necessity. In order to get out of that place, she needed her strength. The pill would replenish her chakra and nourish her body. Normally, she would not have used it. She was skeptical about how healthy it was to consume them.

_It's not like these things are candy._

As she swallowed, her throat ached. She reached up to touch her neck and her back stiffened. She could feel a mass of scar tissue that spanned all the way across - exactly where she had been cut. Her breath hitched. Her jutsu was not supposed to leave severe scarring.

All over again, she could feel Satoshi's attempt to murder her. She struggled to keep her breathing even. It took everything in her to keep from breaking down right there.

She wanted to run into the safety of her father's arms and to feel her mother stroking her hair to comfort her. She wanted to be safe at home and not in danger. She wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Holy shit, you're one of those Leaf faggots."

Her mouth formed a thin line and she turned to look at the Lightning ninja that found her while she was distracted.

He was about a foot taller than her, a year or two older, his skin was a deep mocha, and his hair was black. His general appearance was haggard, like he had been running for hours before he stumbled across her. There were bags under his eyes that denoted he had not slept in a long time. His team was close by, but she could tell they were all split up.

_Looks like he's been chased by another group._

He looked at her like she was a piece of trash, but when his eyes landed on her neck a glint of surprise and aversion lit up. She wanted to shield her throat from him so he could not look at it that way, anymore.

"Hey, why don't you answer? Huh? Too high and mighty 'cause you're on your home turf?" His hand went to his kunai pouch. "I'll just have to beat that out of you. Looks like another group already had a go at it, but I won't let that spoil my fun."

_Great. Just what I need._

There was nowhere for her to run. The pill had not restored all of her strength and she doubted she could fend him off.

"Look, we don't have to fight," It was painful to speak, but Arashi forced her voice to stay steady, "You come at me, my team will come at you. Trust me. You don't want that."

"That's some real bull right there. I'm thinking you're alone. Alone and hurt from the looks of you and this place."

_This isn't good._

"Really?" She laughed, "You're pretty stupid. Kinda like the rest of those teams we took down before."

His bravado wavered a little and he glanced around. He was nervous. Despite his act of arrogance, she knew her bluff was having an effect.

"The only reason you're not down for the count right now is because we're in a bit of a rush to get to the tower." She let her hand rest over her kunai pouch.

The muscles of his jaw worked in irritation. The agitation in his body language made her anxious, but she tried to hide it. He was acting like a rubber band that had been stretched too far and was about to snap.

"You know, I'm having a hard time caring whether this is a trap or not. Your country is scum and your team is worse."

"And what will your team say when they have to carry your useless body out of this forest?"

"I'll tell them to shut their damn mouths! I call the shots and I say: screw your team and your threats!"

Arashi tensed. He was snapping.

"If I slow you down enough, you won't make it to the tower in time!"

_You have got to be kidding me!_

They pulled out their kunai at the same time and he lunged.

The metal blades glanced off each other. Arashi whimpered as his kunai sliced through her arm and she braced herself for another strike.

It never came.

She looked down to see her kunai buried deep in the Lightning ninja's chest. He looked at her with a shocked expression. Arashi's heart lurched - she did not even aim to hit him. Her goal was to deflect his attack.

He coughed up some blood and toppled over.

Arashi dropped her kunai and knelt beside him. She examined the injury with shaky hands. His lung was pierced and the tip of her weapon had punctured his heart. His pericardium was rapidly filling with blood.

_Cardiac tamponade._

Arashi looked at him for a few seconds. Either she could let him drown in his own blood, or she could help him. Memories of her recent traumatic experience replayed in her mind.

She pressed her hands against his chest and channeled her chakra into the sac surrounding his heart. If she could stop the fluid from filling his pericardium, then later they could surgically drain it in a sanitary environment. If she did nothing, he was going to die.

He coughed up more blood and tried to struggle away from her. The whites of his eyes flashed with fear as he pushed her hands away.

"Stop!" She hissed. "Let me help you!"

She forced him on his back and pressed her hands against the wound again.

_This is bad. This is so bad._

She tried to repair the damage, but already there was too much fluid built up. His signature was fading with each weakening beat of his heart.

"Why didn't you just back down?" Her voice shook. "Why?"

He struggled to breathe.

"Why didn't you just let me go?"

The life faded from his eyes and his chakra flickered out.

"Why?"

She sat by him for moment in disbelief.

Arashi had taken a life.

_Why did you make me kill you?_

His unseeing gaze burned her. It was somehow accusing. Somewhere, this boy had people that loved him. He had friends, family, dreams, and ambitions. He had a future - until the blade of her kunai stole it all away.

She ran her hand over his face to close his eyes.

Arashi knew being a ninja meant killing and a high possibility of an unpleasant death. Her instructors from the Academy had drilled that into her head. Medic or not, she was a weapon. She was a killer-in-training and if Ibiki did his job right, she would make her living as a well honed tool.

Regardless, killing a teenage boy when violence was unnecessary was the farthest thing from her desire to help people.

Arashi did not know how to feel - then all at once she realized his team was coming toward her location. Panic shot through her. She could try to run, but they were already close and they would try to track her. Even if she got away, she was not sure if she could care for herself in her weakened state. Especially not with desperate squads around. She felt lost without a squad by her side.

A plan clicked together in her head.

She dug through the dead boy's pack and found an Earth scroll. She then unsealed the spare heaven scroll and sat them to the side. It made her stomach clench, but she examined him for a moment to memorize his features.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

She made the dog, boar, and ram hand-seals. With a poof she transformed into the dead boy.

_They're going to see right through this. I'm being so stupid. Like basic ninjutsu will trick anyone._

She drug the body into another position and with everything in her, she quickly transformed his body to look like her. It made her sick to look down at her own body, even if she knew it was just a jutsu. She put enough chakra into the it to hold it for quite a while, but time was still limited.

_There's no way they'll fall for this. I should've just run._

A couple moments later, the first member of his squad dropped from the trees and walked over to her. The boy was just a little shorter than she was - while she was disguised as the dead Genin. Otherwise, he would have been a few inches taller than her. He had the same gauntness about him that the dead Genin had. He looked down at the disguised body with a sneer.

"Looks like at least one of those scum got what they deserved," Arashi commented. "And look how lucky."

She held up the two scrolls for him to see.

"Holy shit, Jiro!" the Lightning ninja's mouth fell open. "We've gotta get Nobu and sprint to that tower before the Sand team catches up to us."

_I can't believe this is working._

Arashi slipped the scrolls into her bag and jumped into the trees with her temporary teammate. The boy next to her looked around frantically. He stopped jumping from branch to branch and crossed his arms.

"He was around here just a little while ago," he muttered.

She knew exactly where he was, but played it off like she was unaware.

"Nobu! Where are you? We need to go!"

_He's shouting?_ Arashi cringed. _Yeah, like that won't draw everyone to our location._

The last member of her temporary team dropped out of his hiding spot and sprinted over, "Are you stupid, Takeshi? Do you want that Sand team to find us again?"

_At least my team was never that stupid._

Takeshi covered his mouth and squirmed, "Yeah, but," he mumbled through his hand, "Jiro has two scrolls! We're gonna make it to the next round!"

Nobu's eyes widened and he looked over at disguised-Arashi in disbelief.

She nodded with the best arrogant smirk she could muster, "We'd better get to that tower before we're out of time!"

Her temporary team nodded in agreement and they started on their way together.

_I wonder if Daisuke and Akio are okay,_ her stomach sank, _I could've passed right over their bodies without even knowing it._

She thought about her time with her team. They had all grown immensely since they formed a squad under Ibiki. From being around them so much, she was forced to acknowledge them as more than just two jerks that made her early childhood difficult. Her near death experience inspired her to look closer at the details in her life. Her Sensei always pushed for an analytical mind, after all.

_Akio? Akio was a lonely little boy that had no friends,_ she could not believe she had not noticed it before. _I ostracized him when we were little. No reason he bullied me. I had everything he didn't and it must've felt like I was rubbing it in his face with my bratty antics._

Her temporary teammates were quiet. She was thankful they were too distracted to notice she was an imposter.

_And Daisuke? He probably just wanted a friend and he thoughts my clothes were pretty, so he painted on them because that's the kind of kid he was. He only paints beautiful things. I hope he's still alive._ She frowned. _I've been a terrible person to them, not the other way around._

At that moment she realized that through her life she had been too busy judging people by their clan, family, and aptitude. At some point she stopped seeing the value of a person. She had adopted the ideals of an elite when she was nowhere near being one. When she thought of an elite shinobi, she thought of the ANBU - of Itachi.

_I'm never going to walk beside him. It's like he's in a whole different world. I'll never be one of the elite, so I should stop pretending and accept who I am._

Her thoughts transitioned from her team to her family. Her father had specifically stressed that he wanted her to be safe. She fell short of that request.

_Maybe stuff like this is why Dad never talks about any of his war stories. He doesn't just sport a few nasty scars like other people. He probably had friends die in his arms._

Her mother's high pitched and catty cackle rang in her ears.

_What would Mom do if I died here? What am I even doing with my life?_ _And Kazika? Kazika doesn't even know who I am. No reason he doesn't want to be a ninja. He blames the profession for my absence._

Then there was Naruto. His bright blue eyes and mischievous grin were infectious, to say the least. Her insistence to be in his life - even if just a little - was most of the support he ever got. His grades in the Academy were laughable and he had no friends. The scant amount of time she was able to throw to him was all he had.

_What would he even do if I got myself killed?_

Arashi did not want to let anyone know what happened to her the day before. If - _when_ \- she made it back, she would cover up the trauma and keep it a secret. If she could help it, no one would know. Especially not her family. Itachi would expect her to track him down to tell him the news of whether she was going on to the final round or not, but she was not in the mood to socialize with anyone. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to hide away.

She glanced at the two Lightning ninjas at her side.

They did not even know their friend was dead. Guilt stabbed at her once again, but she pushed it away. She did not have a choice. It was either Jiro or her. Fate decided she was the one to survive. In a sense, what happened had not even set in yet. His blood was drying on her hands, but she refused to think about it.

* * *

"Wait and see what Sensei has to say about this," Takeshi broke the silence between them. "Man, the way he told us we weren't ready still makes me mad, but this will show him."

"Whatever. Stay quiet and focus on making it there safely." Nobu hushed him. "Those pricks from before are right behind it. Not sure how they're getting around so good after the Stone squad got their scroll, but they're managing."

Arashi's frown deepened.

Hate was blossoming within her for Satoshi and what he had done to her.

Thoughts of the psychopath were brushed aside as she felt three familiar signatures in the distance.

Although she could not see it yet, she knew they were coming close to the tower - and within that tower her team was waiting. Daisuke, Akio, and Ibiki were there.

So was Satoshi, but she would deal with that issue later.

"We need to take this last bit slow." She announced. "There might be other teams set up to ambush us."

Her temporary teammates fell into a cautious formation around her.

* * *

When they made it to the tower, it was perhaps an hour from the cut off time. The tower stood like a beacon in the center of the forest and Konoha shinobi milled about around and within it. As with much of the architecture of the hidden village, it was pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle that was missing pieces. Takeshi practically vibrated with excitement to be there. He looked around at everything with wide, bright eyes. Nobu, on the other hand, seemed unruffled and maybe a little let down.

A proctor motioned for them to follow him.

"Cheer up, Nobu!" Takeshi whispered, loudly.

"I guess I just expected more from the tower after we struggled to get here for so long." Nobu muttered.

Arashi looked up at it, _I mean, sure it's not going to be featured in any fairytales any time soon, but it's pretty impressive._

"Oh, man, I can't wait to show our sensei!" Takeshi beamed.

_I guess it's time to end this whole act._

She did not think she could feel any more guilty than she did then.

Arashi sighed, "Proctor, I need a word with you."

The Chuunin proctor paused and looked over at her, inquisitively, "What is it?"

She took several steps away from her temporary squad and held up the two scrolls, "I have the scrolls. They're disqualified."

The proctor smirked in amusement.

_He saw through the Henge jutsu immediately._

Nobu squinted at her, "What? Stop screwing around, dude. You've been acting weird all day."

"Yeah!" Takeshi agreed. "We're _all_ making it through!"

_Ibiki was serious about calling some of these squads _sheep,_ I guess._

She sighed and released the jutsu. In the place of Jiro stood a lithe Konoha kunoichi. She stared flatly at the two Lightning genin through a pair of glasses. Their mouths fell open. The proctor chuckled.

"No. You guys are disqualified. Thanks for watching my back. I'm going to go find my team now."

* * *

Arashi made her way straight to her teammates.

Now that she was so close to them, she wanted to run as fast as she could, but she remained calm and walked. When she made it to the room where her team sat together in silence, she paused in the doorway.

_They really are okay._

She could tell the side of Daisuke's face had a bad bruise and Akio was nursing an arm, but they were alive. The relief that washed over her to see them almost knocked her off her feet.

Ibiki glanced over and stilled when he saw her.

"Hey guys," she whispered and stepped completely into the room, "I've been thinking and I just wanted to say I'm sorry about being such a bitch since we were little kids."

Daisuke and Akio stared at her like they were looking at a ghost.

"And I could really use a shower-"

Akio jumped to his feet and snatched her up into a hug. She stiffened and then relaxed into him. This was the first time she had ever hugged one of her teammates and she did not expect it to be Akio.

"I thought you two said she was dead." Ibiki commented, tensely. "She looks pretty alive to me."

Their Sensei separated the Aburame from her and his dark eyes settled on her neck. She looked up at him, determined to return his hard stare without showing how badly she was bothered by her new scar. Daisuke's face paled when he saw it.

Ibiki tilted her chin to get a better look, but she pulled away.

"I'm not on display," she took a step back.

Daisuke audibly swallowed, "It needs to be cleaned, Shi-Shi-chan. We can't really see it with all the blood dried on there."

"I didn't really get time to wash off," she explained.

She still felt detached. It was the only way she could cope with the situation at that moment.

"Here, I have some bandages," Daisuke's voice sounded weak, "Let me clean it for you, okay? It'll make me feel like all that time shadowing in the hospital meant _something._"

From his expression as he cleaned the blood away she knew that it was _bad._

"We," Daisuke paused, "We wouldn't have left you if we knew you were still alive."

Akio watched them wordlessly, but he stood closer than he would have before the incident.

"I know," Arashi sniffled and covered her face with her hands as her eyes burned with tears. "I _really_ don't want to cry, so let's not talk about it right now, okay?"

Daisuke nodded.

"I know their side of the story," Ibiki commented, "but I'd like to hear yours."

"I'll tell you everything, Sensei, after we're done here. Just not right now."

"Alright," he consented, gruffly.

Ibiki was not happy with what had happened and his team was going to get a piece of his mind over the ordeal, but with a sigh he draped his arm over Arashi's shoulders. It could wait until later.

They still had a riddle to answer before they could advance to the next round.

* * *

Alright, this is it for chapter 14! A wolf in sheep's clothing. I hope everyone enjoyed it and will continue reading. If you have any opinions, suggestions, remarks, or criticisms - please share them in a review. I love all forms of feedback, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. If you don't mind, let me know what you think of these turns of events for Arashi and what you think of her progression up to this point from part 1. :)

Also, I was soo tired of naming all these ocs. Siighhh And Arashi now has vicious scar.

* * *

**Be-Mindful**: Thanks! I'm glad that I've gotten a bit better at writing fight scenes, since there will be plenty of them, especially in part 3 and 4. :) And I don't know of any Sensei that would be pleased with their team's situation, let alone one that was so adamant and strict. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**True Guardian Angel**: I suppose it was a little on the dark side. Woops. xD Believe it or not, I'm prone to writing things a bit disturbing. Honestly, it surprises me with how much fluff I've written for Arashi, but oh well. I started her off as a kid with a stable home life, so fluff happens. Thanks for the review! :)

**534667lc: **Yes, I left off with a dreadful cliffhanger. hahah :) Thanks for your continued viewing and the review. I hope this chapter is enjoyable for you.


	15. Lost Innocence

**Chapter 15: Lost Innocence**

Believe it or not, I wanted to finish this chapter and have it posted yesterday. That didn't quite work out, though. I was tired and feeling all bleh, so writing was a minimum. At least it is done now. :)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed - I loved each review - and to everyone that follows and adds this as a favorite! You are all lovely people. It motivates me to update as quickly as I can, which can be a bit difficult in between working a full time job, spending time with my significant other, and raiding with my guild in World of Warcraft.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and it does not feel rushed or choppy.

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** _Arashi learns who she will be facing in the final test and has to come to terms with being a kunoichi. Itachi is too perceptive._

* * *

**Songs: **Modest Mouse - March into the Sea, Tori Amos - Hey Jupiter

* * *

**Chapter 15: Lost Innocence**

**"If Heaven does not exist, enrich your knowledge and prepare for the chance. If Earth does not exist, run the fields in search of an advantage. Open the series of Heaven and Earth and the perilous way shall be redressed. This is names the secret of the 'one that guides..'"**

"That's totally about the scrolls we just mugged half the competition for," Daisuke sniffed. "What kind of riddle even is this? It's so obvious."

Akio grunted.

"Remember our instructors going over this?" Arashi asked. "The Third Hokage wrote this ages ago."

Daisuke gave her a funny look, "I don't think the class really paid attention. You and that prodigy friend of yours were the ones that liked history."

She sighed, "It's about seeking knowledge and wisdom if you're dumb as a rock. If you're a total wuss you need to work on building your physical strength. Stuff any shinobi should do, really."

"Right," Daisuke tried to look directly into her face and not at her neck, "We should just go ahead and open these scrolls. Pretty much tells us to do that."

Arashi pulled out the scrolls she had stashed in her bag. It made more sense than unsealing the set that was hidden away. She tried to focus on the task at hand instead of the bandage that was now concealing her scar or the blood stained clothing she wore. If she acknowledged those things in depth, she knew she would be unable to continue.

Ibiki watched them from the other side of the room. His arms were crossed over his chest and a smirk bent his lips.

Arashi handed one scroll to Daisuke.

"Wanna do this at the same time?" he asked.

"Why not?" She shrugged.

They opened the scrolls at the same time. The three Genin looked at the content dubiously, and their eyes widened. On the paper in their hands was written a space-time ninjutsu - specifically a summoning jutsu - and by opening the scrolls it had been activated.

Smoke began to pour out of them. Arashi and Daisuke dropped them on the ground. They jumped back and braced themselves.

With a poof, a proctor appeared in front of them. Before he could address the Genin in front of him, he locked eyes with their sensei.

"You can take it from here," Ibiki informed him. "It's your duty to deliver the message."

He nodded and regarded the Genin once again.

Daisuke and Arashi waved their hands around to direct all of the smoke from their faces. Akio coughed into his coat sleeve. Once the air was clear and the hacking died down, Arashi regarded the Chuunin. She had seen him around before, but did not recall a name.

"Now, if you're all done," the Chuunin chuckled, "I will explain the purpose of the second round. As you just saw, upon opening the scrolls I was summoned. If you had opened a scroll while not in this tower and violated the rules, you would have been incapacitated and disqualified. This test was designed to examine your ability to carry out a mission properly, survive in harsh conditions, and how well you could handle hostile shinobi."

They waited for him to continue.

"As for the message on the wall, it's a message to Chuunin that the Hokage wrote."

Arashi shifted her weight from foot to foot. She was ready to be done with this step of their exam. She was ready to be anywhere but there.

He gave each of them a friendly grin, "If your weakness is your intellect, seek to improve your logic and reasoning. If your weakness is your body, seek to strengthen it. By strengthening your weaknesses, a mission that was once deadly to you will no longer be as perilous."

"So, that's it?" Daisuke asked. "Is this all we needed to do?"

The Chuunin nodded, "Yes. Congratulations."

* * *

Only three teams passed the second test: the Mist team, the Stone team, and Team Morino.

They all gathered together in a room and stood at attention in front of the Hokage and each of the squads' Sensei. The proctors over the second test stood with them, as well.

Arashi's stomach knotted and a lump formed in her throat.

Satoshi was standing right across from her.

He gave her a wide grin and waved. Akio took a step toward him, but she caught his arm and forced him to stop. There was no point in being disqualified for breaking the "no violence unless authorized" rule right in front of their village's leader.

"All right," the Hokage raised his voice in order for everyone to hear, "Before we progress to the final test, I want to explain the real purpose behind this exam. Why do allied nations conduct these tests on a conjoint basis?"

Everyone was silent as they respectfully waited for him to continue.

"To raise the level of the shinobi and the friendships among our nations," he explained.

_My experience is the opposite,_ She touched the bandage over her neck.

He took a draw from his pipe before he continued, "But it won't do any good to have the wrong idea of the true meaning of that statement. These tests are, so to speak, a microcosm of battle between allied nations."

_That _was_ my experience._

"If we look back on our history, the allied nations of today were once neighboring nations at war with one another in a continuous vie for power. In order to avoid crushing each other's militaries futilely, these nations mutually agreed to a place of battle. That is the true origin of the Chuunin Selection Exam."

Arashi hardly heard what her kage was saying. She tried to focus on his words, but being a few feet from Satoshi made her feel vulnerable. The ease in which he destroyed her made her knees weak. She wanted to run away. His signature was the first she would have described as being _wrong_.

She forced herself to focus on the speech the Hokage was working his way through.

"This allows us to select shinobi worthy of being Chuunin, but it also allows those who carry their nation's pride to fight for their lives! Feudal lords and those of prominence from many nations who request shinobi for missions are invited to this third test as guests. Together, the feudal lords and Head Ninja of each village of the nations will watch your battles."

_For amusement and to get a good look at which up and coming ninjas will be worth their ryo in the future._ Her lips thinned into a line. _Prove your worth and make your living or humiliate yourself and be ignored by those of importance._

"If the difference in power between the shinobi becomes unbridgeable, the strong nations are inundated with job requests. The requests

of nations deemed weak decline. Therewithal, we can exert pressure upon each neighboring nation."

_Power plays without war._

"This test is the venue to see the strength of each shinobi's home. Because it is a test where you truly fight for your life, it therefore has meaning. It's for this very reason that our forerunners fought. It is a dream worth striving for."

_We're all little pawns._ She ran her fingers across the fabric of her bandage. _This _friendship_ that he talks about isn't really friendship. It's us fighting for equilibrium, isn't it?_

"We fight to preserve the balance between our nations. This is the true meaning of friendship for shinobi."

Her frown deepened.

"Now, for the final round," he smiled, "I need each of you to take a single slip of paper from this box."

Arashi's eyes fell on the proctor holding a box with an opening in the top, _So, we're doing a drawing._

The proctor went from person to person and when he finally got to her, she pulled a slip out. There was a number printed on it.

"Good," Ibiki held a clipboard in his hands and a pen, "Now that everyone has a number, from left to right, tell me the number on your slip of paper."

The tallest Mist shinobi spoke first, "Two."

The Stone shinobi she recognized as Ryota went next, "Four."

Daisuke looked at his paper and frowned, "Four."

Satoshi grinned and chirped out, "Three!"

Arashi began to shake.

Akio was next, "Two."

The shortest Mist ninja called out, "One."

The last Stone ninja, Soma, held up his paper, "One."

The final Mist ninja sneered, "Five. I guess I don't go in round one or something?"

Arashi felt like she was falling, "_Three_."

Ibiki jotted a few things down and turned it around for everyone to see. It was a roster for the third test. They were all to fight in a tournament.

Arashi wanted to throw up - her opponent was none other than Satoshi.

"Oh! I get to fight the doll again!" He looked at her with that same predatory glint in his eyes. "This will be good!"

_I can't do this._

She could feel her teammates fuming. Daisuke placed a hand on her shoulder and glared over at the Stone ninja while Akio leered at him with his fists clenched. If no one else was around, she had no doubt that her teammates would have tried to kill him right then and there.

Once everyone became quiet again, the Hokage continued, "Through this tournament, we are able to evaluate each of your individual skills in a fight. Many of you could become Chuunin and on the other hand, there's a chance none of you will. Some shinobi need only one round while others may require several. To advance in this tournament means to maximize your chances to appeal yourselves to the judges. Only those who possess the skills incumbent of a Chuunin will be promoted. Anymore questions?"

He was answered by silence. The rules were clear and the number of Genin to compete in the final round was scant enough that the roster was in no way confusing.

"Thank you for your patience," his weathered face cracked into a grin, "We will adjourn until next month."

As everyone began to clear out, Ibiki placed a hand on Arashi's shoulder. She looked up at him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion. He was usually far from a touchy feely Sensei, unless it was necessary to make contact during training. She knew he had no problems getting physical while interrogating someone, but he seemed otherwise averse to contact.

He threw a look over at Satoshi, "That the one?"

She answered with a nod.

His expression hardened and he steered her into a different room away from everyone else. Her teammates followed without a word. Anyone could tell they were furious and that they were having a team crisis. Other than a couple curious stares, they were left alone to do whatever they wanted.

Arashi chewed on her lips anxiously as soon as the door was shut behind them and she was alone with her squad. It was time for her side of the story.

_I'm not ready to talk about any of this._

The interrogator could have waited until the next day to make her explain. He could have connected the dots, took Daisuke and Akio's side of the story and left it at that, or he could have not asked at all. Then again, Ibiki was not typically the kind of man to pull any punches and he wanted to hear it from her.

"Do I have to talk about this now?"

His answer was to stare her down.

There was no point in arguing with him.

"I came up with a plan, but it was stupid. We should've just come here right after we got an Earth scroll and waited," she stared at her feet as she spoke. "It would've been the safest thing to do."

"Yes, it would have been," Ibiki agreed, "But I don't need to hear about your scroll collecting antics."

She hated how brittle she felt. She was sure he was using her behavior to analyze something about her. Whether that meant he wanted to see how she was coping without outright asking her or not, she was not sure.

"My jutsu worked," she winced, "sort of. It saved my life after he - after he did this to me. I slipped into that Lightning squad and we got here. Okay?"

Arashi knew that he knew she was leaving pretty much everything out, but she did not care. She was not ready to talk about what happened.

"Can I go home now?" Her voice shook, "I really want to get out of here."

Ibiki nodded and released her shoulder.

* * *

When Arashi finally made it home she went straight to her room.

Her father was not there. She assumed he was working. He was at the hospital more than he was ever home and for the first time she was happy he was not around. She needed to be alone without the questions she was sure he would ask.

Her room was just as she left it.

The bed was made, there was a romance novel on the nightstand - she still had not gotten around to reading anything she wanted to read - her bookshelf was organized, but her desk was a mess from all of her research, and in the corner her mirror stared at her. She refused to look at it. Her room was decorated with bright yellows and deep purples. Her vanity was covered with perfumes, ribbons, and makeup she rarely played around with, while the walls were decorated with family pictures.

Her room looked like the kind a naive civilian girl would have.

_If I die, mom will probably keep it looking just like this._

Arashi walked into her bathroom and turned the shower on. She needed to get all of the grime and dried blood off her body. She needed to feel clean again.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror over the sink.

A morbid fascination came over her. She still had not seen the scar yet. From the reactions of other people, she expected it to be bad. Part of her did not want to see it - like if she did not acknowledge it, then it would go away - but she could not stop herself. She peeled the bandage away and stared in shock.

The scar spanned all the way across her neck at an angle. It was jagged from when the Fuin Shugotenshi desperately tried to knot the flesh back together. The jutsu was not supposed to leave a trace of any injury, but something had went wrong with it. She had not yet completed the technique, after all. She touched the thick scar tissue with shaky fingers. To say that it was unsightly would have been an understatement. It was hideous. She turned her head in order to get an even better look.

Satoshi nearly cut her head off.

It was so _deep_. The sight of it knocked the breath out of her. She should have died. She cheated death.

Her fascination was replaced with a frenzied panic. Arashi tore at her clothing to get it all off. When she stepped into the shower, the water at her feet turned to red as it rushed into the drain. She scrubbed at her skin - she needed to be clean. It was not just her blood but Jiro's, as well.

Killing him was an accident. If she could have, she would have saved him even though he was the one that attacked her. No one needed to die. If Satoshi had not been adamant about murdering her, then she would not be marred for the rest of her life and that boy would still be alive. Somewhere, Jiro was someone's _precious_ boy. Just as she was precious to her parents.

No matter how much Arashi scrubbed, she felt dirty.

_What happened wasn't my fault. I couldn't help it. _She forced her breathing to stay even. _I made it home. I'm safe._

She closed her eyes and leaned her face into the water.

_I'm safe now._

The memory of falling and choking slammed into her as hard as her body had hit the ground the day before.

She jerked away from the water and her eyes flew open.

_It's all over. I'm safe now. I'm home and I'm safe._

The mental dam that she built in order to keep the overwhelming emotions at bay crumbled.

She was a shinobi - she would never be safe.

Arashi sank to her knees. She knew that one day she would kill or she would be killed. She knew her profession was dangerous, whether she was on the front lines or standing back to offer support as a medic when it was needed. It was inevitable, but up to this point all of that seemed far away. Now, it was no longer a point in the future that she would handle when it came.

It was her reality.

Arashi felt weak. She wanted to push everything away and to forget any of it happened, but that was not an option. It was not a bad dream that she could wake up from.

Scarring was a part of any person's life and especially a ninja's. Arashi wanted to accept that and move on like a seasoned shinobi would. She wanted to be okay with the situation. A scar should not have mattered to her, but this one did. She would wear a token of Satoshi's _friendship_ for the rest of her life as a reminder of what it meant to be a shinobi.

It was time for her to accept what she was and to grow up.

In a month she had to face the person that stole her innocence from her and this time she would have no help from anyone.

_I can't handle him on my own._

Arashi cried in the shower until long after the water turned cold.

* * *

That morning she woke before her alarm went off. She dug through her closet until she found a scarf to tie around her neck. Once she was finished getting dressed and securing all of her supplies and pouches in their appropriate places, she looked at herself in the mirror that watched her from the corner.

In her horror the evening before, she had not noticed the rest of her appearance.

Arashi was dark around her eyes and her skin was pale enough to make her appear sick. She was thinner than she was a week before. The girl that stared back at her looked fragile. She looked like a victim that was trying to be brave.

Arashi sat in front of her vanity and spread the makeup out so that she could see everything. The only times she ever wore the stuff was when her mother wanted her to dress up for a festival or party. Sometimes they would try new products out before her mother decided to put them on sale in her salon.

With a sigh, she picked up a tube of concealer. She applied it around her eyes in an attempt to hide the sunken, darkness that came from the severe blood loss and trauma.

_I don't even know what I'm doing with this._

She squinted at her reflection and grabbed a small bottle of foundation.

_I guess a little is supposed to go a long way with this stuff? That's what Mom said, right?_

She smoothed the creamy liquid onto her skin. Following her mother's wisdom, she remembered to get her neck and behind her ears, as well.

_Well, I guess it does give me a little more color. I don't look terminal anymore. Pretty sure I used a little too much. Feels like I have mud on my face or something. I can't even feel the air on my skin._

She examined her eyes and frowned. The color and wideness of them made her seem innocent and doe -like. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but she needed to cover up anything that could be mistaken as weakness. She could not stand to see it in herself, anymore.

_Okay, eyeliner or some eye shadow first?_

She picked out a few natural matte colors to add some dimension to her eyes. Once she was sure she had everything smooth and that there were no harsh lines, she moved on to lining her eyes.

_Alright, don't make yourself look like a raccoon. Mom says that's tacky. You're going for more 'mature' and less vulnerable. Not tacky._

After she was done with that, she turned her head back and forth to see how everything looked and frowned once again.

_Do I even have eyelashes? Ugh, screw it. I'm not putting mascara on._

Arashi slid her glasses on and looked at her full appearance again. Her lips were cracked and pale.

_Where's that moisturizing gloss stuff Mom gave me a few weeks ago? Ahh, here it is._

She applied it to her lips and examined herself once again.

_I guess this works. Very _civilian_ of me, though._

The kunoichi was not wearing a _lot_ of makeup, but enough to cover up the visible after-effects of her recent injuries. As she hoped, it made her appear a little older and less like she had just been through the worst emotional breakdown of her life the night before. It was like wearing a mask.

Arashi had a lot to do and only a month to accomplish it.

_If I'm to take what his teammate said and make an assumption with it, then I'd say Satoshi's hurt girls before me. Maybe even killed them. _She thought to herself. _I could.. I could just forfeit the match, but I _refuse_ to give in to that freak._

The memory of the way that the boy's voice changed right before he tried to kill her was enough to make her hair stand on end. It made sense that their profession would draw the occasional person that got off on violence, but it would not surprise her at all if Satoshi turned into a serial killer in time - if he did not already have a small list of victims before her.

He was in no way an opponent she would wish on any Genin. This guy had no problems taking another person's life, whether it was necessary or not.

She put everything back the way it was before, fixed her bed, and left her room.

Her father was in the kitchen with a cup of tea. She slid by him and grabbed something to eat from one of the cabinets. With how much she had to do, she did not have time for a large breakfast. When her father took in her appearance, he raised his eyebrows.

"So, how did it go?" He asked.

"It went great, Daddy," she lied with a smile.

"What's up with the makeup? It's not like you. Are you hiding bruises?"

"What? No!" She feigned shock, "I just thought I'd use some of it. I miss Mom and it makes me think of her. She was just saying something about how I should take care of my appearance more before she left, you know."

Ookami snorted into his cup, "She'll be thrilled to hear you missed her when she gets back in a few weeks."

Arashi latched onto her lie and held on tight, "I miss having her and Kazika around."

He hummed his agreement and they lapsed into silence as she scarfed down her food.

"And the scarf?" Her father hesitated. "Are you hiding hickeys?"

The look of disgust that distorted her face was genuine.

"_Dad!_" she hissed, "Like I'd let any of those guys even touch me like that!"

"Okay, okay," he held up his hands in surrender, "I'm just dreading the day you drag a boyfriend in here to show me."

"Dad, please don't have _that_ talk with me right now."

His eyes lit up with horror, "Oh, no way am I'm doing _that_. Your mom should've already covered all of _those_ bases."

"_Yeah_..."

They both stared at each other, awkwardly. The transition from innocent little girl to teenager that would soon have boyfriends was not easy for parents or the teenager.

He mumbled into his tea, sheepishly, "You're growing up on me and I'm not okay with that."

"I'll always be your girl, you know." As she had done for years, she gave him the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster, "But I've really gotta go start my training. I've only got a month!"

She kissed his cheek and ran out before he could say anything else.

* * *

Arashi made her way directly toward the Hokage's library.

As she jumped from roof to roof, she noted with no little amount of chagrin that Satoshi's chakra was nearby, but distant enough to feel like he was _lurking_. Just as he had done in the Forest of Death.

_Hopefully that's just a coincidence._

She wanted to think that it was, but as she moved, he stayed roughly the same distance from her. He _was_ following her.

_He knows I can sense him. He's doing this to taunt me. He's_ stalking_ me._

Her fists clenched so tightly that the knuckles became white.

Relief washed over her as soon as she made it to her destination. Satoshi continued his game of following after her, but she knew he would not make a move when she was near other Konoha shinobi. She had become a normal sight for the ANBU stationed to monitor it as she worked on the Fuin Shugotenshi, but that day her project was far from her mind. It needed more work, but she had things higher on the list she needed to work on.

She peered through the shelves and searched until she found the jutsu she had on the forefront of her mind. The Kuchiyose no jutsu.

Another familiar signature entered her range and made its way toward her.

_Itachi?_ She frowned.

She did not want him to see her like this. Even though she went out of her way in an attempt to cover up how terrible she felt, she knew he would see through it. He was too intelligent and he knew her too well.

He knew that if everything was okay, she would have found him to chatter his ear off the day before, unless he was away on a mission or busy with his duties.

She cursed under her breath and memorized the hand-seals for the jutsu. Without signing a contract with an animal, she would be unable to summon anything.

_But if I use the jutsu, I will be reverse summoned to an animal I have an affinity with._

Arashi was tired of throwing all of her concerns and petty issues at Itachi. He had a life, he had his own career to focus on, he had a family that kept him busy, and although he was a dear friend she knew that he had priorities that were well above her. This was her problematic situation and she wanted to handle it herself.

Arashi _personally _wanted to make sure Satoshi never hurt another girl.

Itachi entered the library and found her before she could slip out. He was in his ANBU gear, including his mask. He never seemed to care for wearing a mask.

_Great. He must have thought to check in here before he goes off on a mission or something._

She steeled herself and faced him.

"I thought you might be here," he explained, "How did you do?"

His eyes took in her face from the slits in the mask.

"I'm always here, you know," She forced a smile, "and I'll be going on to the next round. Sorry about not telling you yesterday. I was just exhausted so I went home to get some rest."

He raised a hand and she braced herself. For some reason he always flicked her nose, but instead he touched her face. He rubbed some of the foundation off her skin and looked at his fingers.

_Oh yeah, he knows something is up._

She tried to step away to distance herself from him, but a bookshelf was at her back.

"What? Did I put too much on?" She tried to make her tone cheerful.

His eyes settled on the scarf. Instead of asking as she thought he would, he simply tugged it away from her neck to see what she was hiding.

His eyes widened.

He did not have to utter any words. His eyes expressed his questions well enough. She did not want to tell him who did this to her or how it happened. Arashi was no longer the girl with ribbons in her hair that cried when she did not get her way.

She reached behind her back. As subtly as she could, she cut her palm on the tip of a kunai and formed the hand-seals as he searched her face for answers.

Itachi's eyes hardened, "Arashi-"

She vanished in a cloud of smoke.

She refused to let him see her in such a brittle state.

* * *

Alright, this is it for chapter 15! Thanks for reading and I hope every enjoyed this chapter. :) If you have any suggestions, criticisms, opinions, or if you liked anything in particular - let me know in a review! I love all sorts of feedback and it's wonderful to see what you guys think. I apologize if this is riddled with typos.

* * *

**True Guardian Angel**: I'm finally getting to a point of her team _getting along_ instead of bickering. I feel like it's been a long time coming. As for Akio, I tend to go between liking him the best out of her teammates and liking Daisuke the best. :) Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter!

**Be-Mindful**: I am _so_ happy you like it this much! :) Your review made me grin like a lunatic. I work very hard at trying to make a lot of this seem more realistic. Writing Arashi as an intelligent girl lets me do things with her that we never got to see Naruto do. It lets me explore niches and aspects of being a shinobi that weren't necessarily focused on with Team 7.

**Aturnofthepage:** Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you've enjoyed it up to this point. :) There were times when I worried that I might have been writing things a little too brutal for her, but it felt necessary for the progression of her character. She could not stay a spoiled little girl forever and she needed something to overcome or she would never progress. I hope you like this chapter, as it pertains to the beginnings of her attempts to cope with the blood on her hands.


	16. Sukai

**Chapter 16: Sukai**

* * *

Seems crazy that I'm finally to this chapter. Thank you to everyone who continues to read, follow, favorite, and review! You are all lovely. :)

I apologize if any typos slipped in or if any of this became confusing. I'm desperately trying to grind my way through all of the Chuunin exam content without making everyone wait a long time between updates. My fingers feel like they're ready to fall off. This chapter was exhausting but fun to write. :)

* * *

**Songs:** Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Arashi probably doesn't have the best ideas and goes on the ride of her life._

* * *

**Chapter 16: Sukai**

The last thing Arashi saw in Konoha was Itachi giving her the hardest look she had ever seen on his face. As she knew he would, he saw through her facade and her lack of explanation led him to figuring out what had her acting dodgy. It hurt to close herself off from him. It hurt to see his ever gentle eyes change. They were intense beyond his age - she never realized he had that in him.

Those were the thoughts that rushed through her mind as her body was snatched away by the time-space ninjutsu and teleported elsewhere.

This was her fight.

At first, Arashi was disoriented. She had never experienced what it felt like to be teleported before. It was like she blinked and was suddenly in a completely different place in the world. The kunoichi turned and looked around at her surroundings. She had no idea where she was.

The jutsu pulled her to a plateau tucked into what she assumed was a small mountain range. Perhaps a mile in front of her was a cliff-side that was taller than the Hokage's monument. When she turned to see what was behind her, she was met by grassland for miles upon miles that eventually climbed into a mountainside. There were very few trees in the area and a dizzy spell came over her - she felt like she was going to fall into the sky.

There were no shinobi within her range. In fact, she could not feel the signatures of any human beings. The only chakra of note she could sense was above her, but when she looked up she could see nothing but clouds.

_That's weird._

She had expected something else. She was not sure what, but it definitely was not this.

_ I'm feeling cheated._

According to what she read about the Kuchiyose no jutsu, she should have been in the home of the animal she shared an affinity with, but she could not see this supposed animal anywhere.

_Maybe I just need to search? I mean, maybe it transported me to the home of that animal, but it's just out of my range or something._

Arashi shouldered her pack and began to walk out into the grassland. There was proof that animals lived in the area, but all of the tracks she saw seemed to belong to livestock like cattle of some sort. The point of her gamble with the Kuchiyose no jutsu was to find a partner of sorts to help her with her upcoming fight. Summons were allowed and she planned to take advantage of that. They were considered an extension of the shinobi, so it would not be her depending on another person for aid. It would be Arashi falling back on her resourcefulness.

_If it turns out I share an affinity with a cow, I'm going to be mad. That's the last thing I need._

She needed to sign a contract soon in order for her to get back to Konoha. The Fuin Shugotenshi needed to be tweaked again and eventually perfected, she needed to learn at least one offensive jutsu, and she needed to cram in as much training as she could.

_I'll have to come up with a really, really good excuse and explanation for Ibiki Sensei, too._

Arashi had no idea where she was. For all she knew, she could be in a different country, a scant handful of miles away from a Hidden Village that would interrogate her and put her to death if they found her trespassing. Even if that was not the case, she still was unsure as to how far away from Konoha she was. She could have teleported herself a month's travel on foot away. In fact, she did not even know which direction she needed to go to get home.

_Maybe this really wasn't the best idea I've ever had._

No one would have any idea where she was - not her teammates, her parents, nor her sensei. The only lead anyone would have was Itachi and he was dressed for a mission. His missions could take anywhere from a few days to a week in most cases. Chances were that it would not take long for her squad to start thinking something bad happened to her. Especially since Satoshi was lurking in their village now.

_Screw it. I hope Ibiki Sensei interrogates him. To death._

She hoped that the Stone ninja would not prey on anyone else while she was away. It was a safe bet that he would not make any moves while Konoha shinobi were around, but Arashi did not have a high opinion of the boy's sanity.

_His teammate knows how he is. Was Ryota his name? _She frowned. _Satoshi's shown this side before and his team apparently just puts up with it._

She blinked out of her thoughts and trekked up a small hill. Once she got to the top, she stared down at a herd of cattle.

_Cows. Great._

She squinted at them.

_I guess I could summon a whole herd and have them trample that psycho into the dirt._

A bull separated itself from the rest of the herd and approached her. Once it was around twenty feet from her, it turned so that she could see its full broadside. It was a tremendous animal - for livestock. She could make out nothing that indicated that it belonged to a farmer, so she assumed it was wild. Arashi frowned. It bowed its head down and the hair along its spine rose.

_Okay, well, I guess this is happening._

It shook its head from side to side and let out a low bellow.

_I mean, it looks pretty sturdy and strong. I wonder what it would be like to ride that thing into battle._

Arashi was not sure what she expected, but a small part of her hoped it would be something majestic and terrifying all at once - not like the bears in the Forest of Death because those things were just hell spawn demons - but something that a shinobi could identify with. Something like a tiger or a panther.

Not a cow with horns.

_Well, I guess Mom always said I was stubborn. Bulls are stubborn. Maybe this guy is like.. my spirit animal or something._

She pulled out a scroll and showed it to the animal. It stamped the ground and snorted.

"Hey, big guy, can you talk? You know what a blood contract is?"

The wind caught the scroll and unwound it until it fluttered like a flag in the breeze. The whites of the bull's eyes flashed and it let out another bellow.

_Okay, that looks kind of aggressive._

Arashi glanced around for something to put between herself and the animal, but she was in open grassland and the closest tree looked like it was at least a mile away. She took a step back. The bull turned to face her directly, horns pointed right at her.

_Yeah, no, this is a bad idea._

She took another step back and it took a step forward.

_I'm going to make a run for that tree._

Arashi spun on her heel and ran. With a loud bellow the bull followed after her.

_Why me? Why?!_

She knew she could take the animal out with a kunai or a chakra scalpel, but it was just an animal. She doubted it had ever even seen a person before, so of course it would be hostile. She cursed under her breath as it gained on her and she focused chakra into her legs for a boost a speed.

_If I can make it to that stupid tree, I can wait for it to get bored and it'll just leave me alone._

The signature above her from before moved - rapidly.

_This is some real bull-shi-_

A gale hit the grassland and the force of it was so strong that it threw Arashi down. She landed on her face in a heap that was not befitting a kunoichi. The bull cried out as a flash of slate gray and talons knocked it off its feet and it rolled across the ground. Arashi picked herself up and dusted the grass off her clothing. The animal was in the midst of its death throes, but her attention was far from that detail.

The largest falcon she had ever seen in her life stood over it.

_The bird! That's the chakra signature I felt from before!_

The falcon tore into the bull with its hooked beak. It was easily large enough that it could have picked the bull up and carried it away if it wanted to, but it was comfortable eating in front of the girl. Its eyes were dark and circled with yellow and its talons glinted like blades in the light. The downy feathers on its underside were white, while the feathers on its back were a slate gray. Its beak was black where the bull's blood did not stain it.

She eyed it, cautiously as she scooped the would-be-contract scroll off the ground and gathered her thoughts.

_This has to be it._

The way that the bird tore its prey apart made her nervous.

_It could kill me with no problems._

She cleared her throat, but the bird continued to ignore her presence.

"Um, hey! Can you talk?" She spoke loudly and clearly. "I was wondering if you would sign a contract with-"

The falcon turned and shrieked at her so loudly that her ears rang. Once it was sure she was bullied into silence, it continued to eat.

_Okay, so birds are giant dicks._

"That was rude." She huffed.

"_Kak?_" Slowly, it turned to regard her again, "_Kak! _It's rude to want me to sign a contract with you without a proper introduction, little meal."

Its voice was masculine, or at least she thought it was masculine for a bird.

She gaped, _Little meal?_

He ruffled his feathers and continued eating.

"Um, sorry! This is just my first time ever doing something like this," Arashi explained. "My name is Ran Arashi, kunoichi of Konohagakure."

"A kunoichi?"

He shifted away from his food and cocked his head to one side to get a better look at her. She held her breath as his eye came within a few feet of her. He was a huge falcon.

She swallowed and nodded, "Yes."

"_Kak_, this is the first time a shinobi's had the nerve to approach me," he took another step closer to her until his eye was just inches from her face, "What makes you think I won't just eat you?"

She squared herself, "What reason would you have to do that? I wouldn't even be a snack for you."

He pulled his head back and let out a laugh, "_Kak kak kak_! You wouldn't even be a morsel, would you, little meal?"

_I don't think this is what I bargained for._

"_Kak kak kak!"_

_Yeahh..._ She pursed her lips, "So, you going to keep squawk-laughing at me or can I talk to you about this contract stuff?"

"_Kak_ , make your case, little meal," he shuffled over to the carcass and began feeding again.

_Crap. What should I even say?_ She struggled to think of something appropriate, "I'll be honest, I guess. I'm a medical ninja and I'm good at tracking people, but when it comes down to a fight I'm, well, not exactly the best. I have a fight soon that I can't handle on my own-"

"You are weak?" He ruffled his feathers and turned his attention to her again. "_Kak_?"

She bristled, "No."

"_Kak!_" He stood to his full height and peered down at her inquisitively, "If you were not weak, then you would not need me."

Arashi ground her teeth, "Just because I don't have brute force-"

"_Kak!_" He shrieked to silence her, "You expect me to acknowledge someone who is weak, little meal?"

"You will acknowledge me because I am _not_ weak," she hissed.

"Why would I sign my freedom away to someone who cannot take care of herself, _kak_?" He spread his wings out and beckoned to the area around him, "All of this is my territory, little meal. I feed on what I wish, _kak_. I go where I wish. Here, I am feared."

"I'm not asking you to give it up," Arashi replied. "I'm asking you to help me."

"_Kak!_ Help comes to those who help themselves, little meal. Help yourself or die. It is the way of the world. Either you are strong or you are weak."

She clenched her fists.

The falcon tilted his head one way and then the other, as if he was thinking.

"Hear me out-"

He shrieked until her ears rang again.

_I am going to _kill_ this bird._

"I am done with this, little meal." He picked up the carcass in one of his talons and dropped it at her feet. "You may have the scraps, _kak_. I am leaving."

Her turned and spread his wings to take flight.

_Oh. No. Way._

Arashi ran and leaped on the bird's back just as it beat the air with its wings and lifted off the ground.

"You will acknowledge me!" Arashi screamed, "Sign the contract!"

"Get off of my back, _kak_!"

"No!"

With just a few more beats of his wings, the falcon had them high off the ground. Arashi's head spun when she looked down. Everything appeared to be tiny. The wind whipped her hair around, wildly, and the sensations of the forces pulling and pushing her body were surreal. She tightened her grip on the downy under feathers and steeled herself.

_This is so stupid._

The falcon tried to peck her, but she was positioned on his back so that he could not reach her. He screeched in annoyance and turned toward the cliff side Arashi was originally reverse summoned next to. As the wall of rock drew closer and closer, her eyes widened.

_He's going to try to scrape me off!_

He turned on his side and Arashi scrambled from his back to his side - gripping his feathers like she was climbing a mountain.

She barely avoided being clipped off and falling to her death.

_Talk about a near miss._

The feathers in Arashi's grasp came out of the falcon's skin.

"_Kak!_"

Arashi shrieked.

_No! No! No! No!_

The wind pushed her off the bird and she reached wildly to latch onto anything. In her blind terror, she managed to grab onto one of the falcon's legs.

He leveled out and glided away from the cliff.

"You are still there, little meal?"

She glared up at him.

"_Kak!_"

He shook her violently, but she refused to release his leg. If there was one thing Arashi had, it was a monstrous grip.

The bird raised his free talon and focused chakra to it.

_He has a wind affinity. If he hits me with a chakra infused talon, he could cut me in half!_

Arashi's eyes widened and she reached for a kunai with one hand. She focused chakra into the weapon.

His talon lunged at her and she deflected the strike with her kunai - once - twice - three times.

_He's trying to kill me!_

She looked at her kunai. It was ruined from the dents and gashes in the metal.

_That's not good._

Arashi dropped the destroyed weapon and looked upward. It was imperative that she get to a safer position. She swallowed over the lump in her throat and swung her body back. She latched onto his tail feathers where he could no longer reach her as easily with his talons.

_This is crazy! I'm going to get myself killed!_

He screeched in protest as she began to use his tail feathers to climb onto his back. Once she was in a good position, she anchored herself down and caught her breath.

_I can't give up. I need this contract in order to beat Satoshi. I have people I need to live for. This isn't about me. I'm a medical ninja of Konohagakure - I have to survive in order to make sure other people survive!_

The falcon tucked one of his wings in and flipped over.

_Annd I'm upside down now._

Her mouth fell open.

They were heading straight for a copse of trees on one of the mountaintops.

_So he's going to knock me into trees now?!_

Once again, Arashi scrambled to change her position. She managed to scale to the underside of the bird, which was now pointing upward.

A large eye fell on her and he stabbed at her with his beak.

Arashi deflected the attacks with another kunai.

_You have got to be kidding me!_

The falcon turned his attention forward again and began to flip back over to correct his flight.

_Crap, crap, crap!_

Arashi threw her kunai away and scaled onto the bird's back once again. His head turned back and forth as he looked for something else to knock her off with. Arashi took the respite to catch her breath again.

"Just sign the contract!" She screamed over the wind.

The falcon screeched at her.

She screamed back at him.

_I am not letting go of this stupid bird until he agrees to work with me. Otherwise all of this was for nothing._

The falcon's chakra shifted and wrapped around him like a cloak.

_What is he up to?_

Arashi's tightened her grip on his feathers.

The wind around them began to whip around violently. It reminded her of the gale that appeared before he killed the cow. The cloak, on the other hand, she had not seen yet.

The falcon beat the air with his wings and took them even higher. Block spots began to form in Arashi's sight and her skin became chilled.

_The air is so thin up here._

The falcon tucked his wings in and dove.

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

They picked up speed. They plummeted toward the ground faster than she thought was possible. The wind whipped past her so fast that her skin felt like it was being pulled off her skull. She was forced to tuck her face into his feathers to shield herself.

She would have screamed, but she could not find the breath in order to do so.

The ground was right in front of them.

_We're going to crash!_

At the last moment, the falcon opened his wings and redirected. They swept through the grassland and such a speed that everything was a blur.

It took everything in her to hold on.

With another beat of his wings, he flew toward another mountain side.

_I am so done with this craziness,_ She raised her voice to yell over the wind, "Acknowledge me, dammit!"

Her circled around the mountaintop, instead of trying to scrape her off again.

She blinked in surprise.

"_Kak,_ you are fierce, little meal!"

"My name is Arashi!"

He slowed their velocity and landed on the mountain. She clung to his back and glared up at his beaked face. The bird ruffled his feathers and peered down at her.

"Get off, _kak._"

"I'm not going anywhere until you agree to work with me."

"If you do not get off my back, I will never work with you. _Kak!_ I will fly until you pass out and I'll let you fall to your death, little meal."

"I would rather die than fail!" She lied through her teeth.

"_Kak kak kak!_"

"You're squawk-laughing again?" Arashi hissed. "Am I that funny to you?"

"Weak you might be, but you are also determined, Arashi."

She blinked, _He used my name?_

"_Kak_, I've never dealt with shinobi much. I'm not familiar with your kind. You are just a fledgling, aren't you?"

"Uh, fledgling? Oh, like a kid?"

"Where is your brood mother? Should she not teach you to be strong, _kak_?"

_Oh yeah. Falcons teach their young to hunt and stuff._

"My mother can't fight for me in this. It's just me."

_"Kak?_"

"This fight is going to be for my life. I'm a shinobi," she explained, "We have to prove our worth in our profession to shape the rest of our lives."

"So your kind makes their fledglings fight to the death?"

"Yes, when the need comes," Arashi replied. "A shinobi's life is to be a weapon that is used to uphold the balance and _friendship_ between our nations."

"Friendship, _kak_?"

_I think I might have an idea..._

"Yeah," she replied, "Tell me, when you hunt do you do it for enjoyment or do you do you because it is a necessity?"

"Necessity, but I also enjoy it, _kak._"

"But what would happen if you just went through your territory killing everything?"

"_Kak_, I would not. It would be pointless."

"I'm going to be fighting someone who kills people, pointlessly."

"_Kak?_"

"I need you in order to beat this person."

The falcon ruffled his feathers and shuffled his feet.

_Well, at least he's listening to me now._

"Get off my back, little Arashi."

She groaned, _Not this again._

"_Kak,_ you will need to rest. We have work to do tomorrow. We'll talk about the contract after you prove one more thing to me."

"R-really?"

"_Kak_! Someone must teach you if your brood mother cannot!"

She grinned from ear to ear and slid off his back.

"Tell me more of this Konohagakure."

"Okay, just let me set up a little camp or something."

* * *

The falcon had been very interested in her village - even if a lot of his interest concerned the kinds of animals the bird could eat and the like. Once his questions were answered, he left her alone for the evening. She re-applied her Fuin Shugotenshi, brushed through the giant rat's nest her hair was knotted into, and tried to locate a decent place to throw her sleeping bag. It did not take long for her to fall asleep after the fiasco that the bird put her through.

It was odd to sleep away from civilization. She was used to having at least her team near her and every time she thought she was comfortable, she would realize there was a rock or root jabbing into her. There was no denying that she was spoiled to a bed, but she was tired enough that it did not matter. This was the first step to her claiming her independence as a shinobi.

Arashi did not expect to be awoken the next morning by a squealing boar.

In her half asleep state of being, she struggled to free herself from her sleeping bag and lunge toward her kunai pouch. Blearily, she looked up to see the falcon carrying the boar over her head.

_Breakfast?_

The bird dropped his prey outside her camp and landed in front of her as the swine scurried away.

"_Kak_! It's getting away! Teach me you can hunt!"

She gaped at the falcon, "What?"

"_Kak!_"

The kunoichi pulled a kunai out of her pouch.

The bird pecked it out of her hand.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed.

"No weapons! _Kak!_ Hurry!"

"Okay, whatever!"

Arashi ran after the boar. She crashed through underbrush and ran as fast as her feet could carry her. The falcon's claws had left lacerations in the animal's skin, so it was easy enough for her to follow the blood splatters.

_What does he want me to do when I find it? Strangle it to death?_ She huffed. _And how can something so fat run so fast?_

She jumped over another bush and caught sight of her quarry.

It squealed and picked up speed.

_Lovely!_

No one would have denied that chasing a wild boar down the side of a mountain was dangerous. Arashi half ran, half fell after it until she finally managed to corner it in a gully. The falcon glided overhead to watch her progress.

_I will kill that bird someday and eat it someday._

The boar turned and squealed at her. Its skin was coated in its own blood and the whites of its eyes flashed with fear. She eyed its tusks. If it got her with those, it would do more than a little bit of damage.

_And now I have to kill this poor, stupid thing to prove myself to a bird. _She focused her chakra to her hand to form a scalpel. _I bet he eats it in front of me, too._

The boar charged her.

Arashi dodged the swipe of its tusks and latched onto its back.

_Ew! Ew! Ew! Its blood is as thick and slick as grease!_

She dug her fingernails into the thick hide of the animal and gagged at its stench. It squealed and tried to throw her off its back. With a shout, she drove the scalpel into the boar's spinal cord.

Its legs buckled underneath it collapsed. She rolled to her feet and walked away from it.

_I am never going to do that again._

Arashi looked down at herself and grimaced.

She was covered in blood and what she was certain was boar feces.

_I will never be clean again._

One of the many disadvantages of being out in the middle of wilderness was that there were no showers with copious amounts of hot water.

"_Kak!_ Good job, little Arashi!"

The falcon landed next to her quarry and rested his talon on it.

_Yep. He's going to eat it._

"This is just the first step, _kak._" He cocked his head to one side to examine her as he spoke, "I wanted you to prove to me that you weren't a fledgling that could not hunt."

_Yeah, people are different than birds, but I guess if he's caught up on that, I'll just let him ramble on that way._

"There is much more we should do, but first we eat for our strength."

_I really don't want to eat that thing. It is covered in its poop. Which, I guess that goes for me, too._

Arashi decided she would change the subject and sneak ration bars when the bird was not looking, "So, you'll sign a blood contract with me?"

"I will, _kak_." He shuffled toward her. "But first I want one thing."

"Like what?"

His eye settled on her hitai-ate.

"Wait," her hands went up to her headband, defensively. "You can't be serious? It's just a piece of metal on cloth."

"I like it, _kak._ I like how it catches the light."

_Birds and shiny things..._

She pulled if away from her forehead and examined it, "I've had this since I first became a Genin. It means something to me."

"_Kak._ You will be the first shinobi I sign a contract with."

"So," she snorted, "It's like a bargain?"

The bird nodded his head and shuffled even closer to her.

"Alright," she sighed, "But first I have a question and you'd better answer it!"

"_Kak?_"

"What is your name? I introduced myself and you never returned the favor."

"My name is Sukai."

"Nice to meet you."

She looked at her hitai-ate longingly one last time and sat it down. Arashi had a contract to write and sign. She pulled out the scroll that she waved at the bull the day before and spread it on the ground in front of her. Sukai cocked his head from one side to the other as she wrote on the paper.

_I guess it's a good thing I'm so obsessed with this stuff. Otherwise, I'd never know how to write one of these things up properly._

Sukai was not a tiger or a lion, but she was happy to share an affinity with him. Anything was better than the bull she tried to talk herself into accepting.

Arashi would have been too ashamed to summon a cow.

* * *

And that is it for chapter 16! I hope everyone enjoys it. Sukai is a character that I came up with before I began this project and I was very anxious to finally introduce him to this fanfiction. I apologize if there are any typos that I over looked over if any of the action sequences became confusing. If you liked anything, had any opinions, any criticisms, etc - please share them in a review. I love every kind of feedback and I love knowing what the readers think and speculate.

Next chapter Arashi will be back in Konoha and working herself to the bone in order to get ready for her match. Only about two more chapters to go before I have her fighting Satoshi by my estimates. That is, unless I either get too impatient and rush toward the fight or I could come up with more content and push the fight back. We'll see~

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**True Guardian Angel**: I'm glad that you liked the last chapter! :) I'm very fond of young Itachi, myself. Let me know what you think of her summon and such. Thanks for the review!

**Aturnofthepage**: Arashi won't be giving up on her healing seals any time soon. It will be too integral to her character later. As for the makeup, that is something that will be answered. :) And her summon is a falcon! Now I have to focus on keeping him from being too overpowered, which is ridiculously easy to do. Thank you for your continued reading and your reviews. xD I hope you like this chapter, as well. I spent my only day off this week working on it. O.O *no life*


	17. Premeditation

**Chapter 17: Premeditation**

I'd like to apologize about how long it took me to get this chapter done. I've been really busy with work and other little things kept popping up to keep me from writing as much as I would have liked. May is already proving to be a busy month for me, but oh well. :) Thank you to everyone who continues to read this project and everyone who reviews, favorites, and follows! You are all very lovely. Also, I apologize for any typos I'm sure slipped in. Siighhh

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Arashi probably doesn't have the best ideas and has some explaining to do._

* * *

**Songs:** Imogen Heap - The Walk, Modest Mouse - Alone Down There

* * *

**Chapter 17: Premeditation**

Arashi spent several days with Sukai in his territory before they ventured out. She was still not sure how far from Konoha they were, but figured it was better to practice riding Sukai and working with him away from prying eyes. He was stubborn and a bit on the rude side, but she did not mind. If anything, it helped distract her from dwelling too much on her scar, Jiro, and Satoshi. The only time she had a hard time not thinking too much was when she tried to sleep at night.

Which, in turn, meant she did not get enough sleep.

Arashi tried to blame other things, such as the roots or rocks that always managed to jab into her back, or the lack of a nice pillow, or her need of a proper shower. Sukai was not familiar enough with people to tell that she was lying when he inquired why it took longer each morning for her to pull herself off the ground or why her eyes had bags under them. He accepted what she told him with a ruffle of his feathers and moved on.

It went on that way until Arashi was confident they were ready to go to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

_Those silver linings, _she thought and then yelled over the wind, "Okay, so, we'll find a town, get our bearings and head back Konoha!"

"_Kak._"

_I hope I don't pick that up as a verbal tic._

The first sight of civilization they found was a small farming community.

Arashi squinted down at the houses and farmland as Sukai circled around. She estimated there was only about fifty people in the entire village - if that many. That was a good thing. The last thing she needed was to walk into a guarded town and run into foreign shinobi.

_Hmm, I can't really sense any outstanding chakras._

A shinobi's signature was disciplined. It always felt different to her than a civilian's, even from a distance. As they drew nearer, she pegged their nationality.

_Okay. So, we're in the Land of Fire. Somewhere. Good._

She peered over the side of the falcon and tried to make out the buildings.

_Hm. I don't see a hotel. At least not one that I can make out. _She frowned and then shrugged, _Well, I'll just sneak into someone's house for a shower._

"Sukai, land in a field," she yelled, "So I can figure out which direction we need to go in."

The falcon touched down in the center of a field.

Several children that had been playing stopped what they were doing and stared in shock. Arashi slid off the bird's back and waved to the kids. They gaped at Sukai with wide eyes.

"Hey there!" She smiled, "I'm a little lost. Care to tell me where I am?"

No answer came.

They were all dressed in basic, patched clothing. Their faces were dirty and their hair was a mess. Despite Arashi's attempt to pretend her summon was not there and appear friendly, not a single one of the children paid any attention to her. Even when she cleared her throat and waved again.

_Well._

Sukai cocked his head to one side, "_Kak_, hurry, little Arashi. Directions."

The children shrieked and ran away.

"Well, that happened," Arashi mumbled and then turned her attention to Sukai, "I'm thinking you should go hunt or stay out of sight. Scaring the locals probably isn't the best idea."

He ruffled his feathers, "I will watch for you. Come here when you are ready, _kak._"

"Will do."

Arashi made her way into the tiny village.

_Directions, then a shower._

The roads were made of dirt, the buildings were basic but sturdy, and there appeared to be little else but homes and a general store. It was the smallest community she had ever been in. She was accustomed to the buildings of her home. Her parents had chosen to settle on the outskirts of Konoha, but there was always a neighbor nearby. Still, it was refreshing to be out in the fresh air and away from the bustling streets.

_Alright, find a local._

From what Arashi could tell, most of the citizens were out in a field or busy elsewhere. She could sense some people inside their homes, but she felt awkward door knocking. She wanted to get her bearings and then slip into an empty house to borrow someone's bathroom. The fewer people that noticed her the better.

_Ah-ha! Old woman sitting on a porch. Good enough for me._

Arashi walked the rest of the way down the dirt road until she turned onto the pathway toward the farmhouse. On the porch of the squat building, an elderly woman watched the girl approach with a frown on her weathered face. Just as the children, this woman was dressed in simple clothing.

_Okay, here goes,_ She smiled, "Hey there, I'm a little lost. Could you point out where we are on my map or something? I need to be pointed toward Konohagakure."

"Konohagakure?" The woman repeated and leaned forward, "Not often we ever see someone traveling through our little village. 'Specially not a little girl all alone like you."

Arashi did not care to be identified by her age. She had given her hitai-ate to Sukai, but it was currently stowed in her pack until she could find a way to make a harness or vest of some type for the falcon in order for him to wear it. Without it, she felt naked and it made sense that someone would peg her as a normal teenage girl, but it bothered her. The woman's words made her feel like she was being judged as weak or vulnerable and it reminded her too much of what was hidden beneath her scarf.

Instead of showing her discomfort, she forced her smile to touch her eyes, "Oh? Well, I'm a kunoichi and I need to get back as soon as I can."

"Ohh, a little thing like you? A ninja?" The woman crooned, "But you have such a pretty face."

She did not know why, but the comment irked her.

"You sound like my mother. You're embarrassing me when I should be worrying about getting home," Arashi deflected, "Will you help me?"

"Of course, sweetie."

Once Arashi had her bearings and the village's location circled on her map, she thanked the woman and left. They were close to the southern border of the Land of Fire, but with Sukai she was confident it would not take long to travel north to Konoha. Being able to fly over obstacles while traveling faster than she was capable on foot was invaluable. She was convinced that the falcon was better than any tiger or panther if only for the travel capabilities.

_Shower time._

Arashi located an empty home, shimmied her way in through an unlocked window and located the bathroom. It felt strange to be in someone else's home without their permission in order to use their facilities, but she was desperate to get a taste of proper hygiene again. She looked at herself in a mirror and frowned at the dark rings around her eyes.

The young kunoichi did not perceive her reflection as _pretty_ as the old woman seemed to think.

She poked her cheeks and tried to rub color into her face. In her rush to try out the Kuchiyose jutsu and sign a contract with an animal, she had not thought to pack makeup. Tired, doe-like eyes stared back at her and despite her efforts to make her skin hold more color she was still pale. There was no denying she could use a reprieve to recover, but she doubted she could find rest, anyway.

There was still too much to do.

Arashi peeled her clothes off, sealed the articles away and unsealed a fresh change of clothing. When she stepped into the hot spray of water, she wanted to shed tears of joy. After days of washing up in streams of cold water, this was _divine_. The heat eased away the kinks and tension in the muscles of her shoulders and back.

_Oh, this feels amazing._

She took her time until the water began to turn cold and then she stepped out to dry off. It did occur to her that Suaki was waiting, but she figured the bird needed to hunt or would enjoy some time to himself, at the very least. She felt no shame for treating herself.

_Still no one nearby. Good. It would be amazingly awkward to be caught in the nude here._

Arashi dressed and checked her reflection again. She clicked her tongue. The kunoichi still looked like death warmed over, so she looked around until she found some makeup stashed away.

_Thank you, lady farmer-san for your contribution. I'll have to be sure to buy my own to keep with me for travel or something._

She dabbed under her eyes to conceal the bags. It helped her to not feel as easily red by others. She did not want people to see youth and inexperience when they looked at her. Even if that summed up who she really was. No one else needed to know that.

Arashi paused.

_I'm turning into my mother._

Naomi was always groomed, perfumed, and dressed to perfection.

_I'm not supposed to be turning into her this early in life!_

Horrified, Arashi put everything back the way she found it. It was likely the farmer's wife would notice something was off, so she placed a 'thank you' note on the sink.

_That will probbly freak her out more._

Arashi frowned.

_Eh, I'll just leave it._

When she stepped outside, she noticed something odd was going on farther in the town. A small group of people were gathered around the general store. She could only sense a few people in the surrounding fields, whereas before most of the population was busy working.

_That's strange. The weather's fine and I'm sure they still have plenty of work to do. _She chewed on her lip. _I guess I'll go check it out?_

As she drew close to the crowd of people, she heard the tones of their voices - frenzied, angry, and worried mixed into a chaotic mess of murmuring. Arashi knit her eyebrows together in confusion and tapped one of the farmers on the shoulder to get his attention. He turned and gave her a strange look.

_Ah, yeah, they're not used to seeing people travel through._

One of the children that she had seen before peered around him at her. Arashi waved at him and offered a smile.

The kid pointed at her and yelled, "It was her! She was the one that brought the bird here!"

"Um, what?" She took a step back.

The entire crowd turned to leer at her.

"What's going on?" Arashi took another step back.

"That demon bird of yours killed my most prized cow!" One of the farmers shouted from the back of the group.

"It spooked my sheep so bad they broke through their fencing! My boys are busy roundin' them up!" Another added.

Arashi's mouth formed an O, _Woops._

"It's only a matter of time before it starts carrying off our youngins!" A woman shrieked.

"Whoa!" Arashi held her hands up in front of her, "I don't think you need to worry about something like that! I'll go find him and we'll be right out of your hair like right now-"

Arashi ducked under a rock that was thrown at her head.

_Alright, time for me to get out of here!_

Without another word or any other attempt to explain herself, Arashi sprinted away. The crowd of angry farmers chased after her.

_I'm never approaching a mob ever again!_

Arashi put more distance between herself and the locals. She jumped over a fence and dashed through a field toward the rendezvous point set by the bird before she walked into the village. The falcon was nearby and in the air - she could feel him far above her, circling around.

She raised her hands above her head and waved her arms, wildly.

_Sukai, notice me already! There's a mob chasing me!_

The giant falcon dove down, swept over the heads of the locals and glided beside her. The gale that came with him knocked the farmers down and nearly threw Arashi, but she managed to keep her footing.

"_Kak_?"

Arashi jumped on his back, "Let's get out of here!"

* * *

Arashi stared down at Konoha from the Hokage monument. She was glad to be back. The jigsaw puzzle buildings greeted her in their own haphazard way. The civilians bustled about on the streets as they went about their business. She was home.

They had passed through the detection barrier that surrounded her village, so she was sure that the Detection Division knew she and the falcon were there. She was not sure whether the Interception Division would be sent to check on her or not - she doubted it - but she preferred to not have a giant bird with no social skills around if she did encounter them. Ibiki had mentioned in passing how vigilant their military had to stay.

In fact, she could feel a few disciplined signatures nearby and it would not surprise her to find out that they were scoping her out just to be certain. She frowned. Satoshi's signature also lurked nearby.

Arashi turned toward Sukai, "You can go back now. Hunt or rest. I'll summon you when I need you."

He cocked his head to the side and set one of his large eyes on her, "_Kak_? You are sure, little Arashi?"

"Of course."

"You will be safe?"

"Yep."

He tilted his head to the other side and shuffled closer to her, "The one you have to fight? Is he here? For the tournament, _kak_?"

"He's in the village."

"_Kak_, is he why you guard your throat when you sleep?"

She stiffened, "What?"

Sukai ruffled his feathers, "It is good to be wary, _kak_. Bare your throat to anything and it might bite it out."

"I'll, uh," she shifted, uncomfortably, "I'll be careful. Trust me."

"Very well."

The falcon disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Until then, she had not realized her new habit. She _did_ guard her throat at night. In the late hours, the nerves in her neck tingled and it felt all too much like a weight pressing down on her to choke her.

Arashi stood on the top of the monument with a hand touching her scarf for several minutes before she moved on.

* * *

Arashi made her way toward the hospital. She was sure her father was worried about her since she disappeared without a warning. He had a tendency to fuss and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she missed him, too. She was always partial to her father and age had done little to change that.

She passed through reception with a familiar nod and waited in Ookami's office. He was busy with a patient, but she was sure one of the nurses would let him know she was there. She looked around at the small room and grinned a little to herself.

On his desk was a picture of their family together and beside a stack of paperwork was a mug with "Konoha's #1 Dad" written on it.

When he entered the office, she greeted him with a wide smile, "Daddy!"

The Jounin caught her up in a brief hug and then pulled back to arm's length.

"Where have you been?" He looked her over and frowned, "Been training? You look like you need some rest."

"Oh yeah, I've been really busy," she freed herself from his grasp, "I just wanted to check up with you since I forgot to leave a note."

His frown deepened, "Morino-san was not sure where you went off to, either."

"Uh, I need to check up with him too-"

"And your teammates even came to ask me where you were-"

"I'll let them know, too, I guess."

He crossed his arms, "Be more considerate of your squad and especially me. Remember to write a note to let me know, at the very least, alright? I get that you're a ninja and you have a lot to do, but I'm still your father."

She pursed her lips and looked off to the side, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I've just been a bit stressed out and that makes me scatterbrained."

He smiled and it touched his eyes, "Don't worry. I was your age and a young shinobi once. Just don't push yourself too hard and get some rest."

"I will," she walked toward the door, "But I'm going to get out of here. I have some people to talk to and more training to pack in."

He laughed to himself as she walked away and it sounded like a lion.

It was almost enough to put a bounce back into her step.

* * *

The way that Satoshi lurked was methodical and ever present.

It was almost impressive. At every moment, she had to try to ignore that he was there. Thoughts of going to the Police Force and telling them about the Stone Genin had crossed her mind, but he kept enough of a distance that she doubted anything would be done about him. His attempted murder in the Forest of Death was a risk that came with the Exams and as such, she did not feel like she had the right to run to authorities over it. She preferred that no one knew about it. She never wanted to think about it again.

Arashi stuck to busy streets and stayed in the open. She avoided all alleys and any place that she could be cornered. At all times, she made sure she was within range of another Konoha shinobi. It might have irked her that there was nothing she could do about Satoshi at that time, but she knew she could take measures to keep from becoming a victim again.

Vigilance was fast becoming a lifestyle for her.

When she made it to the Hokage's library, she grabbed the Scroll of Sealing and sat down at a table with it. There were two jutsu in particular that she wanted to study from it - even though she was fairly certain this was one of the items she was not supposed to dig through. It was not strictly _forbidden_ but the First Hokage had sealed the techniques away generations before because of how potentially dangerous they were.

_A few peeks into this thing won't be an issue, right?_ She glanced around, paranoid, _If I lose my privileges here over this, I'll cry._

Satoshi's signature reminded her of why she was there.

_It's worth the risk._

She refocused on the scroll in front of her.

When night came, Arashi peered out of the library with a frown creasing her face. She could go home, sleep in her own bed, get some sleep, but there was a fear that kept her rooted there.

_If I go home, what if Satoshi follows me there and then he knows where I live?_

She leaned against a bookshelf.

_And what if he hurts my mom or Kazika?_

Her lips trembled.

For the first time since her mother and younger brother left on a business trip for Naomi's salon, Arashi was inexplicably glad that they were not home. If they were away, they were safe from her stalker. She knew that the chances he would make a move on them were slim, but even the slightest chance that he would was too much of a risk to her. Kazika was a child and her mother was a civilian - they would have no way to defend themselves against the monster that had taken such an interest in her.

Instead of going home, Arashi returned to the table she used to pour over documents and rested her face in her hands.

Somehow, Satoshi was managing to steal everything from her with just his presence.

* * *

The next day, when she woke, she found a cup of tea sitting on the table near her.

She blinked and picked it up to check how fresh it was. To her surprise, it was still warm, which meant someone had left it for her recently. Her eyebrows rose, but she shrugged and took a sip of it. There were a lot of ANBU that recognized her that might have left it for her. There were certain perks that came with being a student of the head Interrogator.

Her back ached from falling asleep in the chair, but the idea that there were ANBU around to keep Satoshi from getting to her while she slept in the library was enough to give her a grain of peace through the night.

_Silver linings,_ she thought as she took a sip.

After she finished the tea, she left the library and went to a bath house. Once she was done washing herself and throwing herself back together, she wandered out onto the streets. She needed some food and then she could get back to working on the new techniques she looked over the night before.

Arashi's lips thinned into a line.

She could feel Naruto's signature as he followed her through the street. She turned and caught a glimpse of his orange hoodie as he dove behind a trashcan to hide. A smile tugged at her lips.

_That kid is too cute, but he really should be in class right now. Skipping is no good. He can use whatever help he can get with those grades of his._

Arashi shook her head and went over to the boy's hiding place. He stayed completely still - she was sure he was even holding his breath. She squatted down and peered around at him. Two large, blue eyes stared back at her.

"You should be in class," she whispered, "So what are you doing out here? What will Iruka-san say?"

He scrunched his face up and pointed right at her face, "Where have you been, _you know_? You just, like, disappeared or something!"

"I've been really busy, Naruto-kun," she sighed.

His eyes betrayed the doubt he felt, "Yeah right! I'm not dumb, _you know_! You're just avoiding me, aren't you, Sis?"

_Ouch._

She caught him in her arms and gave him a firm hug, "Never, Naruto-kun."

He struggled for a couple seconds and then relaxed into her. It was in his nature to lash out when he was insecure about something.

"I really have been just so busy," she whispered to him, "But in a few weeks I'll have a lot more time on my hands and I'll get to do things with you again."

"Can't you play a little game with me now, Sis? You don't look busy right now, you know!"

She wanted to, but Satoshi's signature was nearby.

_He's almost as defenseless as Kazika._

If Satoshi hurt Naruto, she would never be able to forgive herself.

She pulled back and gave him a firm look, "I have to get back to training really hard."

He pouted and crossed his arms.

"But," she continued, "While I'm training as much as I can, I'd like it if you tried really hard with your classes. We'll both work as hard as we can and then we can see how much better we've gotten in a few weeks?"

He hummed to himself as he considered it.

"Maybe you can really surprise me and pull some of those tricks out on me when we play," she added. "Imagine how cool it will be."

A mischievous grin spanned across his face, "It's a deal, Sis!"

Iruka dropped off a building and landed behind Naruto. The boy's face went pale and he froze. The Chuunin crossed his arms and glared down at his wayward student. A vein bulged on his forehead from running through the village to find the boy.

_Honestly, this poor guy. Naruto probably terrorizes him and his class._

Arashi stood and smiled at the Chuunin, "How are you today, Iruka-san? Busy?"

"Oh, just getting ready to drag a student back to class."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked between the two.

"Guess you might have to tie him to a chair," she commented. "He's pretty hyper."

"Funny how you mention that," Iruka played along, "I just so happen to have some extra rope with me."

Naruto squeaked. He looked around for an escape route, but he was trapped by the two.

It took most of her self control to keep her face straight as she said, "If he tries to look away or close his eyes, you can just get some toothpicks or something to force his eyelids to stay open."

Naruto gave her a nasty look.

"You know, that's a good idea," Iruka winked.

Arashi took a step back, "Well, I need to go. Full schedule for me."

The Chuunin smiled, warmly, "Don't push yourself too hard. You already look like you need some rest."

She forced herself to smile back, "I'll be fine."

Iruka grabbed the back of Naruto's hoodie and half drug the boy down the street.

_I'll have to thank him some day for putting effort into Naruto. Not many people care enough to try._

* * *

Arashi spent most of the day practicing with the _maybe_ forbidden techniques. She was not sure if she was allowed to look at them or use them, but she was not about to ask just in case she found out they really were forbidden. It was better to play the ignorance card than to be honest in that situation.

When the light began to fade, she was once again faced with the dilemma of where she was going to spend the night. She would not go home and she refused to impose herself on her teammates. If she could manage it, she wanted to convince Daisuke and Akio that the incident did not bother her and that she was coping well with it. It bothered her that they knew about it at all.

She leaned against a building and sighed.

It killed her a little inside that Itachi knew. He was able to be a private person that said only a fraction of what he thought about anything. She wished she could be more like that. Even when she tried to keep a secret it seemed like everyone would either figure it out or she would blurt it out, anyway.

Arashi missed her friend, deeply. She was exhausted and she was lonely.

_Just a little while longer and this will be over. First I need to suck it up and go talk to my Sensei. Avoiding him will only make him more irate than he's probably going to be already._

She pushed away from the wall.

* * *

Arashi knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in," Ibiki called out.

She entered and fidgeted when his expression sharpened. He motioned for her to take a seat in front of his desk and she did so. The room filled with silence and enough tension that it was almost tangible.

"Do you know how reckless and stupid you were?"

She cringed at the gruffness of his voice, but nodded, "Yes, Sensei."

"I almost had Daisuke and Akio check every sewer and alley in Konoha for your body, except for the tip off we got that you _reverse summoned_ yourself to an _unknown_ location outside the village."

She looked down at her lap and chewed on her lips. _I guess Itachi's responsible for that._

"I'm sorry, Sensei. I didn't mean to worry you or the guys. I just wasn't thinking straight." She apologized. "I managed to get a signed contract, though."

"You could have landed yourself in enemy territory."

"I know," she replied, "And I'm sorry."

"With the influx of foreigners, all of ANBU have had more than a full plate to deal with. Next time, before you do anything stupid, let someone know." He leaned back in his chair. "Akio and Daisuke have been training every day and I've been busy. It would have been nice if we didn't have to wonder where you were or if you were dead or alive."

_So, Itachi's going to be busy and Sensei won't be able to really train us? _She frowned, "Yes, Sensei." She tried to break the tension, "I learned one thing for sure. It turns out that landing a giant falcon in a farming community is a bad idea."

Ibiki snorted.

He looked at her like he was debating whether or not he was going to continue scolding her. The girl in front of him was exhausted. No amount of makeup could hide the haunted cast of her eyes or the bags underneath them. The fragile smile on her face failed to deflect him and when she realized he saw through her, she frowned.

"What are you up to, Arashi?"

She sank into the chair and looked at him for a moment.

"I'm going to kill him, Sensei," she whispered.

They lapsed back into silence. Arashi did not care if he knew about her premeditation. She did not care whether he approved or disapproved.

"In that case, we have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it," Ibiki replied.

"Thank you, Sensei."

* * *

That's it for 17! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. :) It took me a while to write it and I sorta feel like it's a jumbled up mess, but I hope it came across the way I intended it to. One more chapter until her fight with Satoshi! If anyone has any criticisms, suggestions, or opinions - feel free to share them in a review. I love getting feedback of any kind.

* * *

**True Guardian Angel**: Sorry about this chapter taking a little bit longer for me to post. Personally, I adore wolves, but Sukai ends up being invaluable to her through the rest of this project - at least in places. Thank you for your continued following and I hope you like this chapter. I'll try to have the next one out soon. Thanks for the review!

**534667lc:** It is a bit of a rough spot, but it's something Arashi needs to go through. She did get the contract signed and now she has a bird with a verbal tic and an attitude to terrorize people with. haha Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well, and hopefully I'll have the next done and posted much sooner!

**Belladu57**: Thanks for the review! I put a lot of time and effort into this project, so it makes me happy to know that you've liked it up to this point. :)

**Aturnofthepage**: You give excellent reviews. :D Thank you for that. I try to portray Arashi as a girl that isn't too serious and is a bit quirky and because of that it leads to some comical relief here and there. At the same time, she's a very stubborn person. She'd probably be very hard to deal with if she was real. lol I love the advice you gave for Sukai, too, by the way. It's excellent. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	18. Burning Lips

**Chapter 18: Burning Lips**

* * *

Well, this is the last chapter before the fight between Arashi and Satoshi. I immensely enjoyed writing certain parts of this one, as well, so I hope everyone likes it. Oh my was this one a long time coming. I apologize for any typos that might slip in and I'd like to thank everyone who reviews, follows, and favorites this fanfic. It makes me happy. lol :) At the end, please let me know what you think of this chapter in a review. I would love to know some opinions of the progression - especially at the end of this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Arashi is still hard at work with training, Kazika and Naomi make it back home, and lines blur._

* * *

**Song**: Imogen Heap - Closing In, Tori Amos - Caught a Lite Sneeze

* * *

**Chapter 18: Burning Lips**

When Ibiki was not busy with his responsibilities in ANBU, he spent as much time as he could helping his squad. Unlike some Sensei that would choose to spend most of their time with their favorite student, he was determined to divide his time between each of the three equally. On several occasions they all trained together. When their Sensei could not be around to oversee them, they continued working on their own personal projects.

Arashi was grateful that neither Akio nor Daisuke brought up what happened in the Forest of Death.

She noticed that they dodged the topic and were careful to steer clear of anything that could trigger memories of what happened. At first that observation was almost worse than openly acknowledging it, but she pushed through it. It was strange that it took her near death experience to usher their squad into treating each other better - and she was well aware that she was probably the root of the problems they had.

Still, it was strange to see Daisuke bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying something mean and stranger still to notice Akio look after her instead of fume loathingly at her.

She was not sure if it should irk her or make her feel cared for.

"-_Kak?_"

Arashi blinked out of her thoughts and looked over at Sukai, "What?"

The kunoichi and her summon sat on top of the wall that surrounded Konoha after a session of training together. People either stared in shock and awe at the giant bird or stayed far away. It was probably smarter for them to stay at a safe distance. Sukai had a tendency to peck things that were shiny off peoples' bodies.

_For a bird that was never around people much, he sure likes watching them from up here._

It likely made the civilians feel like they were being hunted.

"Is that all we are going to do today, _kak?_"

"Uh, yeah," she pet the downy feathers beneath his wing, "My mom and brother are supposed to be back any time now. I wanted to see them for a while before I went back to the grind."

He ruffled his feathers and looked down at her, "Will you need me tomorrow?"

"Probably. We've got some more stuff to work on."

"_Kak?_ More manner lessons or training?"

"Probably _both_," she cleared her throat, "But yeah, you can go back now."

He nodded his head and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Arashi took a deep breath and looked up at the clouds. It was a beautiful day, as most were in the Land of Fire. The prospect of Naomi and Kazika coming back inspired both relief and anxiety. She had been successful in evading most of her father's questions because of his busy schedule and his understanding of a shinobi's lifestyle. He was able to give her space and not think much of it. Arashi had a feeling he did not even realize she had not spent a single night in their home since she got back with Sukai.

Naomi, on the other hand, was nosy and perceptive to a degree that was creepy. She would want to know why Arashi started to care more for her appearance all of a sudden, and why she had taken up an obsession with scarves. That would be her initial inquiries. If Arashi avoided their home altogether - as the kunoichi had done for weeks now - the woman would notice immediately and want to know why.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to sleep in her own bed and not worry about anything, but even now she could feel Satoshi's signature nearby. Her life now revolved around cutting herself away from the ones she loved in order to keep her stalker from knowing they mattered to her. If she went to any authorities, she did not know if they would be able to do anything about it because Satoshi was cautious. In the end, she was simply ashamed that it had come to this and she would do almost anything to keep her parents from finding out about it.

Arashi rubbed her temples.

In her Academy days, she got along with other girls well enough. She never considered them to be her friends, per se, but she had no problems with them. Arashi never got involved in any petty fights over a boy and she was never jealous over another kunoichi's skills or appearance. Once she graduated, she kept up with none of them.

Which meant she could not use them as an alibi when her mother questioned where she was staying.

Her teammates were boys. Her sensei was a man. Her dearest friend was a boy.

She would sooner eat a bowl of shuriken for breakfast than say she had been sleeping at a boy's home. On the other hand, she doubted her mother would approve of her daughter camping in a library or in her Sensei's office instead of sleeping in her own bed. Arashi was not sure what to say to her mother.

She did not have a single decent alibi.

_Well, maybe I can tell her I've been staying outside over night to help hone some sort of, um, ninja skill or something._

With the amount of complaining Arashi did after every mission that required her to sleep on the ground, she knew her mother would have a hard time buying into that.

_I'll, uh, come up with an answer when I need to, I guess._ She sighed. _Why couldn't Itachi have a sister about my age? Then I could say I've been hanging out with her at night and we've been training together or something stupid like that._

Arashi's shoulders sagged.

She had not seen Itachi in weeks. His signature had been within her range many times, but he was busy with the rest of ANBU. Apparently, whenever the Chuunin Selection Exam was held in Konoha, it was like throwing a rock at a hornet's nest.

Teleporting herself away instead of confiding in her friend still bothered her. The day before, she had cornered Sasuke once his classes ended and sent a note with him to give to Itachi. It contained an apology for her actions and a request.

Arashi still did not know a single offensive jutsu.

She had a few tricks up her sleeve and she had Sukai, but each of those were pieces in a plan she was piecing together like a puzzle. It needed a spark to ignite it into a full motion strategy. She was not sure whether it was from her desire to see her friend again or if it was because of the respect she had for his abilities, but she wanted to learn a jutsu from Itachi to use in her upcoming fight.

She also wanted to burn Satoshi alive for the torment he put her through.

_That's beside the point, though._

If Itachi did not respond to her request in the next day or two, she would have to figure out an offensive jutsu that would suit her plan and then learn it on her own. She was fully prepared to do that, but the sentimentality of using a jutsu her friend taught her was enticing. She would still be handling the fight with her own abilities, but it meant something to her.

She took a deep breath and then exhaled.

It would all be over soon. One way or another, it was coming to a head.

* * *

As soon as Naomi and Kazika passed through the gates, they were greeted by the kunoichi. Several men nodded when Naomi gave them directions and they parted ways to deliver the new products to her salon.

Kazika ran to his sister and hugged her legs, "Sis!"

Arashi picked the boy up and slung him from side to side. He shrieked in laughter. Naomi gave her daughter a disapproving look - she liked it when her children behaved in public - and Arashi set the boy down on his feet. Kazika had not changed at all in the month he was away. He was still a ball of energy, black spikes of hair, and brown eyes wide with life.

"I'm gonna be a ninja, Sis!"

Arashi's face scrunched up, "What?"

"Yeah! Look!"

The boy pulled out a tanto and held it up for her to see. The sheath was black and the tsuka was wrapped in gray and dark blue cloth.

"Who gave that to you?" she squinted down at him.

"My new hero!" He replied with a toothy grin. "His name's Sen. He tore through the bandits attacking us like they were nothing!"

Arashi looked over at her mother with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, we were only attacked by one group of bandits," Naomi waved the notion away. "They didn't even get to the caravan. That Mist ninja-"

"Sen!"

"Yes, that Sen ninja did a good job taking care of the bandits that attacked us. I don't even know how Kazika managed to see any of the fighting it was over so fast."

"So, were they trying to steal the hair products or the lotions?" Arashi deadpanned. "What were they doing attacking your caravan? Actually, never mind that - what was a Mist ninja doing in your group?"

"Well, on our return trip we ended up crossing paths with a nobleman from the Land of Water - oh, he was just a charming little thing and he was so happy that I trimmed his hair - the Jounin was his bodyguard. And then, we decided to travel together and everything went so smoothly after that," Naomi rambled. "You would not _believe_ the scandals he was telling me about. They get up to some crazy stuff over there, according to my new friend."

"Right," Arashi resisted the urge to rub her temples. "So, Kazika wants to be a ninja now?"

Naomi looked over at the boy - who was holding his tanto up into the air like a relic - and sighed. Arashi's stomach felt like a pit. From the boy's previous statements of not wanting to be a shinobi, she never thought she had to worry about him choosing it as a career. She was sure he would choose something suitable for a civilian, find a normal girl to marry, and have a peaceful family.

She chewed on her lip, "That's just, uh, _wonderful_. Are you sure you want to be a ninja? Weren't you just saying it would be stupid before you left?"

The boy shook his head back and forth like the action would erase her words, "I'm gonna be like Sen!"

Arashi stared down her nose at him, _He wants to be like a foreign ninja and not like Dad? This kid is crazy_.

"Anyway," Naomi chuckled, "How has your father been? I'm sure he didn't know what to do with himself without me around."

"Erm, yeah. Totally lost."

In all honesty, Arashi had not noticed any difference. He drank his tea every day in his office from his tacky #1 Dad mug, he worked extra shifts but that was nothing unusual, and neither of them were home at the same time.

_To be fair, I haven't been home at all. Maybe he hasn't, either._

"Mm, well," Naomi purred, "Momma's home now."

"That puts gross images in my head, Mom."

Naomi cackled.

"Mom!"

"Hmph, well," Naomi pursed her lips and looked her daughter over, "You seem to have taken an interest in presenting your outer image a little better."

_Annnd it begins._

"Well, you're always so pretty I thought I'd give it a try," Arashi lied.

"Mhm." She put a hand on her hip, "So, that's it, huh? What about that scarf?"

Arashi looked down at it and shrugged.

"I thought it was pretty. Streamlines my body a little, don't you think?"

"I bet it hides hickeys just fine, too."

"Mom!" Arashi grimaced, "First Dad says that and now you. I don't even have time for a boyfriend."

Naomi sighed, "Oh yes. Someday you'll end up with a house full of cats and that will be all your own fault, sweetie."

Arashi glared at her, "Thanks, Mom. Thanks."

"Oh!" Naomi's eyes lit up, "How did your Exams go?"

"Very well," Arashi lied through her teeth, "I'll be going on to the final round. A little over a week to go before the tournament starts."

"Well, good job. I'm sure you've worked really hard for this."

"Oh, I have," Arashi agreed, "But now I really do need to go so I can get back to training. Don't wait up for me!"

"Bye, Sis!" Kazika waved to her, wildly.

Naomi watched her daughter sprint away with a raised eyebrow, "Such a strange child." She glanced at her son and clicked her tongue, "That goes for you, too."

* * *

The kunoichi walked through the streets of her village with a frown.

She wanted to be home with her family. There were so many questions running through her mind about their travels that she could not see straight. She wanted to snatch the weapon out of Kazika's hands and make him understand how dangerous the life of a shinobi was. Although she had no intention of stepping down from the path she was on, she wanted to spare her brother any unnecessary pain in his life.

His sudden infatuation with being a ninja worried her. A part of her was mad at this Sen person for representing something to Kazika that none of the other people the boy met before did.

Most of all, she was angry at the sick signature that continued to follow her at a distance.

Sometimes he would get bold and come closer than other times. There had been more than one occasion that he would slip by on the other side of a street or sit at a restaurant opposite the one she chose to visit. He saw to it that she never had a moment to relax or feel safe. He was ever present, always lurking, and never off her trail.

_Does his Sensei know like his teammates? Do they care?_

Arashi chewed on her lip.

_Wouldn't he be better served by training instead of stalking me?_

Every step felt heavy, like there were weights tied to her limbs.

_Then again, I guess he feels like he has me in the palm of his hand. To him, I'm just a toy. A doll he can break and cast to the side without any remorse or any second thoughts. He's been trained for combat probably from the start of his career, while I've been trained to stay out of it._

She altered her course and made her way to one of the training grounds.

_Instead of being home with the people I love or playing with Naruto, I'm out here pretending I have no one, so he can't do anything crazy to any of them. It's like he's taken everything from me without lifting a finger against them. And instead of talking to anyone about it, I'm too damn ashamed to admit someone has this much control over me. What even is that? This isn't who I am._

Arashi leaned against a tree when she made it to her destination and rubbed her temples.

_It's funny how I thought I hated Akio and Daisuke until I met Satoshi. I was a really dumb kid, I guess._

She sighed.

There were more than a few things she could work on while she was out there. She was still practicing with the techniques she memorized out of the Scroll of Sealing and Sukai was always up for 'teaching her how to hunt' as he liked to call it. How the falcon managed to ping pong between being ridiculously rude and then somehow endearing was beyond her.

Arashi closed her eyes and focused on the signatures around her.

They were all sparks of life. Some were brighter than others, some were larger, some were fainter, and each felt unique if she focused on them enough. One in particular that was moving toward her was one she had pegged as special as a child.

_Itachi?_

Satoshi's signature was drawing closer, as well.

_What is he up to?_

She felt stupid for not going to a training ground that was closer to active areas.

_I guess it's like practically inviting that creep to come harass me._

She opened her eyes and waited.

When Itachi arrived he looked at her, inquisitively. In his hand was the note she sent through Sasuke before. He wore his ANBU gear except for the mask, so she assumed he was either in between shifts or about to report for duty.

A spike of emotion ran through her and she realized how immensely she had missed him. She fidgeted slightly and motioned toward the note he was holding.

"I wanted to apologize, but we've both been so busy, I felt like a note was the only sure way to get in touch with you without interrupting something important you might have going on," Arashi began.

He nodded his head and the corner of his mouth curved upward. The look he had given her the last time she saw him was still burned into her mind. She regretted leaving him grasping at smoke, if only because she knew how much it would have hurt if he did something like that to her. It was a relief to see him in a better mood and with a softer expression on his face.

Arashi opened her mouth to continue, but Satoshi's signature continued to come closer. She bit the inside of her cheek in frustration when the Stone ninja dropped from a tree near them.

_You have got to be kidding me. He's getting bolder. Great._

"Hey, doll!" The Stone Genin greeted with a friendly wave and a cheeky smile.

Itachi's stare turned to steel that was sharper than any blade.

The person that stood in front of her was no longer the gentle boy she would meet in the library or play with in a playground. There was no subtle smile, nor softness in his eyes, nor was there any amusement to be found in his countenance. The boy that stood in front of her was a deadly member of ANBU that had more than a little blood on his hands.

Satoshi look between the Uchiha and Arashi, "Oh, is the little doll busy?"

"You should return to your sensei and find something better to do with your time."

_He knows?_ She looked at him in surprise, _Of course. The ANBU have been keeping tabs on all the foreign shinobi in Konoha. It was only a matter of time before they noticed one actively stalking._

Satoshi's eyebrows shot up. His appearance irked her. From the blue of his eyes, to his slight stature, to the youthful exuberance of his voice and face - he appeared to be a sweet boy. If she could not feel how _off_ his signature was and if she did not have proof of his cruelty, then she would scarcely believe he was capable of any malicious acts.

"I just wanted to see my little friend-" Satoshi's words trailed off.

A pair of Sharingan now stared him down.

"If you think I am stupid, then you are mistaken," Itachi's voice retained his calm, even tones - but his eyes conveyed a different message.

"Whoa!" Satoshi held his hands up in front of him, "No reason to glare like that. I'm not here to try anything-"

"You also seem to think I am a patient person. Continue with such misconceptions and it will be a waste of your life."

It was not a threat. Arashi knew, without a doubt, that if Satoshi did not back down then he was going to die. Her throat tightened from the tension. ANBU answered to no one but the Hokage. If Itachi killed him, she wondered how easy it would be to either cover it up or to pardon their way out of it. She had the distinct feeling that if the Uchiha wanted to, no one would find any trace of Satoshi's body.

_No._ _This freak is my problem and I'm going to handle him._

She touched Itachi's shoulder and hoped that it would convey her thoughts to him, somehow. Whether it would be easy for him to kill her tormentor or not, this was something she felt she needed to do.

"Right, well, I'll see you later, doll!" Satoshi grinned. "A little over a week and I get to show you some new tricks you haven't seen yet!"

She chose to not respond.

They watched the boy retreat until he was well out of sight. Only when he was farther away than he had been in weeks, did she release the breath she had been holding.

"I will help you learn a fire jutsu like you wanted," he turned his attention to her, "But not this evening. I have some duties to take care of."

She swallowed over the lump in her throat. His eyes were beautiful and he was striking. How had she never noticed before? Words would not come to her, so she settled on a nod.

He delicately touched the fabric of the scarf around her neck with his fingers, "You should go home. Rest tonight. You won't have anything to worry about."

The lines of her reality were blurring together and she doubted anything would ever be the same again. She was overcome with mixed emotions.

All at once there was nothing else in the world. The angles of his face and the intensity of his eyes were nothing short of art incarnate. Her gaze fell on his mouth and her lips burned. She wanted to taste him - to entangle herself with him so irreversibly that no one could tell where she ended and he began. Her soul ached for it in such a way it terrified her. He was art and skill and everything she wished she could be.

_I am in love with him._

* * *

And that's it for chapter 18.

This chapter has been a long time coming, to be honest. I decided to go for a chapter that was a bit shorter, but to the point. I can't help myself. I love romances and everything I write tends to have a romance tucked in somewhere. The last chapter was mostly just set up and I apologize if it was on the boring side. Oh well. :) Pacing and such. Alright, everyone, please let me know what you think of this chapter. If you have any opinions, criticisms, suggestions, or anything like that - please share them in a review.

* * *

**True Guardian Angel**: You know, when I read your last review I giggled and thought to myself, "well, you're in for a treat with chapter 18!" I've been planning this scene between Arashi and Itachi for a while. It's nice to finally have it written and out of the way. I hope that you like it, so please share your opinion on it. If you like it, tell me why and if you didn't let me know. :) I feel kinda strange to take the step from Arashi caring for him as just a friend to something more, but I'm pleased with it so far.


	19. The Storm Unleashed

**Chapter 19: The Storm Unleashed**

* * *

I cannot believe I'm finally here after so long. I've had this chapter planned for probably about six months. Even with meticulous planning, it proved to be a hard one to write. I just don't think I have a natural knack when it comes to writing fight scenes. Oh well! Thank you to everyone who follows, favorites, and reviews! You are all great. :) Also, this chapter was a beast to write. If any of this gets confusing, I apologize. I tried to make sure everything made sense and flowed nicely, but it was a lot to go through at once.

And this chapter makes over 100k words into part 2! xD I have no life.

* * *

**Notes: **

Black powder is the same thing as gunpowder.

Kirigakure - Village Hidden in the Mist

Konohagakure - Village Hidden in the Leaves

Iwagakure - Village Hidden by Rocks

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Bunches of fights and stuff... it all comes to a head in this chapter._

* * *

**Songs:**

For Akio's fight: Naruto Shippuden OST - Kokuten

Daisuke's fight: Imogen Heap - Aha! (lol I realize I'm a dork)

Arashi's fight: Naruto Shippudent OST - Blind Animal

* * *

**Chapter 19: The Storm Unleashed**

Arashi did not have an appetite, but she forced herself to eat something small. She could not afford to be weak. She had to be ready.

It was the day of the final round of the Chuunin Selection Exam.

She looked over all of her supplies for the third time that morning. Everything she thought she could possibly use was packed and ready. Her pouches and bags were well stocked, she had medical pills unsealed and easily accessible, and she had several kunai prepared with paper bombs tied to them. A belt hung around her hips. It was designed to hold scrolls in holsters that were right in reach.

Her skin tingled slightly.

Arashi ran her fingers over the skin of her arms to ease the sensation. The Fuin Shugotenshi was set into her body and ready for use - but there was more than that hidden away. Once she was comfortable with layering fuinjutsu inside muscle, sinew, and bone it occurred to her that she could conceal even more. Scrolls were often used for convenience, but if she wanted she could seal the same things within almost anything else - or transfer something from a scroll to her body and then to something else to store the fuinjutsu.

That concept was the foundation of a critical step in her plan to kill Satoshi.

Only nine people made it through to this round, so it did not surprise her that her team was in each of the first three fights. Akio was to fight Ito Isao, the Kiri shinobi. The second fight was between Daisuke and the Iwa shinobi Kato Ryota. The third fight was between herself and Satoshi. The fourth was between Soma and Fukui Kenji.

Arashi's life had been consumed with the struggle to become stronger in order to survive her upcoming fight. Now that it was only hours away, she was not sure what to think or to feel. Each step of her plan played out in her mind again and again.

_Never thought I'd have such a struggle for my own identity._

She tightened the straps of her medical pouch and took a deep breath. A week back in her own home without Satoshi lurking - at least not as close - as he had before Itachi's intervention was a greater relief than she knew how to describe.

_Itachi..._ She fidgeted and paced between her closet and the desk in her room. _Falling in love with my childhood friend? Yeah, that's dumb. He's so out of my league, it's painful._

Training with him after her new revelation had been awkward, to say the least. Through the years she had no problem sharing thoughts, secrets, and feelings with the quiet boy and throwing herself into his arms for a hug. It was a habit that was carried over from her too-clingy childhood, but now she found she was uncertain in his presence. Instead of being light hearted and open, she was too busy analyzing whether or not he could tell she was attracted to him.

If he could tell, then he had the couth to not point it out. It was both comforting and torturous that they had a goal to focus on together - when he was not buy with other things. It kept any silly romantic notions from distracting her from the real issue, but it also exhausted her.

_I'll deal with that stuff after today. He'll have more time and I'll have more time. Then I can figure everything out._

Once she was sure she had everything together, she left her room. She took her time as she walked through the hallway and looked at the family photos that lined the walls. Naomi had a tendency to document everything she considered a landmark or a special occasion. While Arashi found all the times her mother forced her to pose for pictures to be annoying at the time, she now looked at everything with a fondness that was profound. This home was full of good memories.

Arashi found her family in the kitchen, finishing breakfast.

Ookami chose to take the day off from work - something that was rare - so for the first time in months she saw him in casual clothing instead of his medical squad uniform. He smiled at her from the brim of his tacky mug. A medical report sat by his plate.

_Okay, so he _almost_ took the day completely off work._

Kazika swung his feet back and forth as he picked at his food. His face was scrunched up in disgust. In his lap was the tanto that the Mist Jounin, Sen, had given him. Arashi still wanted to take it from him, but he was inseparable from the weapon.

_Either Mom and Dad should take it from him before he gets hurt or we need to enroll him in the Academy as soon as possible so they can teach him how to not.. maim himself with it or something._

Arashi might have been a little jealous of the fact that the tanto was the sharpest weapon in the house and her parents thought the almost-six-year-old was responsible enough to carry it around. When she was his age they blunted anything that was remotely _pointy_ before they let her anywhere near it.

Naomi collected some dishes off the table and placed them in the sink to soak, "Did you eat enough, Arashi?"

"Yeah, I've eaten," she replied.

"Are you sure you had enough? You need to keep your strength up."

"Yes, Mom, I know, but I don't need to be running around bloated and slowed down by a large breakfast," Arashi huffed - she would rather not explain she was too nervous to eat much.

"Mm, alright, sweetie."

Her mother looked like she was ready to entertain nobility. Arashi wanted to shudder at the amount of time Naomi must put into grooming herself every day.

_She always cared maybe _too_ much about her appearance, but I guess it's part of her business? Wear the makeup to show how nice it looks, wear the perfume to advertise how nice it smells, and keep your hair perfect to show you're competent enough to handle someone else's hair?_

Being a ninja seemed simpler when she thought about her mother's life.

"You know," Arashi cleared her throat, "there's really no point in coming to watch me get beaten up today."

Ookami did not look up from the medical report he was reading. Kazika completely ignored her, as well. The weapon in the boy's lap occupied too much of his attention.

_Maybe they are more alike than I thought..._

"Oh, shush." Naomi waved the notion away. "I wouldn't miss your fight for the world."

Arashi would have given the world for her mother and little brother to stay at home.

"It's going to be violent, Mom, and I don't know how well I'll do. Are you really sure you're okay watching it?"

Naomi raised one eyebrow and pursed her lips, "You do realize I've attended every final round of every Chuunin Selection Exam held in Konoha since I first met your father, right?" The middle aged woman fanned herself. "Seeing those boys fighting each other used to make me hot back when I was still young."

"Ew." Arashi cringed. "I don't appreciate those images, Mom."

Naomi cackled and went back to washing dishes.

The kunoichi sighed in exasperation, "Well, I guess I should go meet with my team."

"Be safe," Ookami glanced away from what he was reading, "We'll be there soon."

She forced a smile at him and left their home. Once she was outside, her shoulders sagged. She felt like she had the weight of the world on her.

_I don't want my mom or my brother to see what I'm going to do. Dad's a shinobi, so I'm sure it won't be more than he can handle, but still,_ she watched her feet as she walked. _Either I kill someone or he'll probably kill me. I don't want them to see either of those outcomes._

Arashi steadied herself with a deep breath.

_I need to worry about me and not them right now. If my initial plan falls through, I need to be mentally prepared to change things up._

She exhaled.

_His armor is bulky. It can take an explosion, so my explosive tags will pretty much just stun him or slow him down. My chakra scalpel can get through, but I need to stay away from him if I don't want to end up dead._

If she was not so deep in thought, she might have noticed that the day was beautiful. The birds sang loudly as they flitted about and the temperature was pleasant. It was going to be a warm day.

_The armor also makes him slow. He's kinda quick without it, but I'm pretty sure I should be able to avoid him either way. I'll just have to be careful._

A day did not go by that she did not think about how she could beat Satoshi.

_Sukai could probably peck right through his armor, but his spear makes me nervous. I'd rather keep Sukai at a distance so he won't be in danger of being wounded. Long ranged attacks seem to be the safest route, but his affinity is Earth. Seems like anyone with an Earth affinity would know to dig underground for cover and then that would lead to a stalemate until someone gives in and leaves their safety zone._

None of the thoughts were new to her. They were like a mantra in her head now.

_I need to transfer all six of my little surprises into the arena while avoiding Satoshi's attacks. If I can do that, I should make it through this._

She looked up and smiled to herself.

_Thank you, Kushina-san. For the inspiration and those early lessons. I cared more about if my bow was on straight than I did about knowing how to hold a kunai right back then, but look at me now._

Her team decided to meet at a tea shop not far from the arena that morning for a final talk before the tournament began.

when she arrived, Daisuke and Akio were seated with a cup of tea. The two boys were geared to the teeth. Akio stared into his cup with a frown on his face while their Sensei stood off to the side with his arms crossed. Daisuke noticed her from the corner of his eye and waved at her. His eyes and face were lined with paint - which was not strange since his Kamofuraaji no jutsu required paint to be on the body in order for it to work - but the pattern and the consistency of the chakra she could sense was different. Looking at him made her dizzy.

_Okay, that's kinda odd._

"Here," Ibiki offered a cup to her. "Sit down."

She accepted the drink and took a seat between her teammates. Akio grunted a greeting and she nodded at him in acknowledgment. Team Morino was almost always together, but as they drank their tea that morning, there was a sense of companionable silence that was never there before. No one was glaring at each other, no snarky insults were being whispered, and Ibiki did not have to feign that he did not find their misery together to be hilarious. They felt like a team.

"Do your best today," Ibiki looked at them in turn, "and know that whatever the outcome, I'm proud of each of you. You're better students than I expected." He closed his eyes and chuckled, "You've went from being hopeless brats to being shinobi."

Akio grinned, "Hn."

Arashi played with the end of her scarf and pretended she was not blushing at the compliment, "Thank you, Sensei."

"Well," Daisuke sniffed, "We couldn't stay kids forever, could we?"

"Not if you wanted to survive in this world," Ibiki replied with a shrug, "Remember, show the audience your best. What happens today can and will shape the rest of your career. Make a bad impression and you will struggle to correct it, but make a good impression and your future employers will never forget it."

"Yes, Sensei," they chorused together.

"There's no point in being late," Ibiki glanced at the time, "So finish your tea and get in there."

* * *

All nine of the competing Genin stood in a row in the center of the arena. The proctor, Hayate Gekko, stood in front of them. They were surrounded by thick, high walls in order to keep any civilians safe from accidental cross-fire. On one side, behind the wall stood three structures that held the seating for the audience. On the ground where the Genin were lined up, there was nothing of much note. On the outer rim of the enclosure were trees, but not enough to conceal oneself in.

Arashi was sandwiched between her teammates, trying her best to ignore the predatory gleam in Satoshi's eyes as he watched her. She was proud of her teammates for following her lead in pretending the boy was not even there. If she knew anything, it was that he fed off knowing his target was focused on him at all times.

She had been to many of these tournaments as a spectator. More often than not the fights were brutal, even though the ninjas fighting were Genin. They were fighting for their future and for the wellbeing of their Lands.

_Now I understand how much weight is on these fights. It's completely different as a participant._

The roar of the crowd's cheer was deafening.

_This is unreal._

Arashi could not remember a time when she stood in front of so many people.

_And they're all looking at us. It's like it's exerting even more pressure than what's already on us. I can hardly breathe._

Once the cheer died down, the Hokage stood from his seat above them and walked to the railing so that people could see him better.

"Everyone, thank you very much for coming to the Village Hidden in the Leaves Chuunin Selection Exam," The Third called out, "We will now begin the 'final round' matches for the nine who made it through. Please watch until the end!"

Another round of cheering from the audience rang out.

Hayate turned toward the participants, "Alright, the rules of this-"

He broke off to let out a nasty cough.

_He should probably get that checked. He's not looking too healthy._

"-of this round. The matches will continue until one or the other dies, or acknowledges defeat."

Satoshi's grin deepened.

"However," Hayate continued, "If I determine that it is settled, then I will stop the match there before anymore unnecessary bloodshed occurs," he coughed into his hand, "No arguments will be allowed. Does everyone understand?"

No one objected.

"Okay, the first match is between Aburame Akio and Ito Isao." He coughed again, "You two remain. The rest of you guys go to the waiting room."

Arashi and Daisuke walked together. He made sure to keep himself planted between her and Satoshi. It was a detail she did not miss. They climbed the stairs until they found the room and the two teammates went to the side of the room and leaned against the railing to watch. Satoshi's team settled on the other side of the room, while the two Kiri Genin leaned against the railing in the middle.

"How do you think he'll do?" She whispered.

Daisuke looked at her like she was crazy, "He's the only one on our team I'm not worried about. He's from one of Konoha's noble clans, remember?"

"Yeah. I guess sometimes I forget what being an Aburame means."

They lapsed into silence to watch the fight.

* * *

Akio adjusted his stance and watched Isao. The Mist ninja ran his fingers across the tsuka of his katana. They sized each other up for a few seconds.

"So, you're an Aburame?" Isao snorted. "I've heard some pretty interesting stories about your clan. Sensei always said you guys were a bunch of flea ridden freaks, though."

Akio frowned, but did not respond.

"Guess I'll just have to see which one it is for myself," Isao shrugged, "Try not to disappoint me too much."

Hayate glanced between the two, "Begin!"

Isao drew his katana and lunged. The proctor jumped back to give the two Genin space to fight.

"I just won't let you use those bugs on me!"

The swordsman lashed at Akio, but the Aburame avoided the attack. Isao sneered and continued his offensive.

Each slash sang through the air - once - twice - a third time in repetition, but his blade came into contact with only his enemy's coat.

"Are you just going to run away?!"

Akio smirked and stepped into the katana - blocking the stroke with his forearm.

"What?"

Isao tugged, but his sword was stuck.

Akio brought his knee up and nailed the swordsman in the groin. The air shot out of him in a sharp grunt and before he could recover he was knocked back by a sharp kick to the stomach.

Isao broke his fall and rolled to his feet, "Heh, I didn't expect you to have that much brute force in you."

Without acknowledging what his opponent said, Akio dislodged the weapon from the insects on his arm and tossed it far away from them.

"And that's just rude."

Isao's eyes narrowed. There were kikaichu all around him on the ground and some droned in the air.

"So, I'm assuming you let all these guys out while evading me?" He snorted, "Don't think I haven't been thinking of a counter for this." He formed the tiger hand-seal, "Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!"

The moisture in the area around them condensed into bodies and formed four water clones. The kikaichu swarmed Isao, but he calmly grabbed one of his clones and undid the jutsu.

The water washed all of the bugs off him. A large amount of the liquid clung to his skin - held in place by chakra.

"Those kikaichu of yours are no good if they can't hold onto me, now are they?"

A swarm latched onto one of the clones and began to feed off its chakra.

"I can just make more if I have to!" Isao made several more hand-signs, "Suiton: Suidan no jutsu!"

The Mist ninja inhaled deeply and blew out a stream of water.

Akio rolled in order to evade, but the jutsu caught his side and threw him back into the wall of the arena. He landed hard on the ground and braced his ribs to catch his breath.

Isao glanced over toward his sword and moved to get it, but pain spiked through his abdomen. He glared over at the Aburame and dispersed his body into a pool of water to shake off any insects that managed to cling to his clothing in spite of the layer of liquid on his skin.

Two of the remaining water clones charged Akio.

He took one out with a flurry of shuriken and ended the second one with a kunai. With a quick glance he checked to see where the third clone was - it was incapacitated by his kikaichu. Akio pulled himself to his feet with a grunt.

His ribs were bruised, his coat was ruined, and his sunglasses were shattered into pieces beside the wall. Other than that, he was fine.

Isao leapt out of the water and snatched his sword up from the ground, "Now, let's get back to the fun!"

A smile spanned across the swordsman's face. He was most comfortable with a katana in his hands.

Akio slid into a defensive stance and his features hardened.

"I think it's time to finish this!" Isao announced.

He ran a few steps and then slid to a stop.

Akio smirked.

Every cell in Isao's body felt like it was on fire. The pain was excruciating.

"Many people assume that because I am an Aburame, I am not well suited for taijutsu. They are wrong, but it makes certain things convenient."

Isao gasped for air, "What did you do to me?"

"My grandmother specializes in an insect that is rare even in our own clan. They're known as the Rinkaichu."

The Mist ninja was no longer sure if the liquid on his skin was the water from before or the cold sweat seeping out of his pores.

"What the hell are they doing to me?!"

"The pain? Those are your cells dying."

"When?" Isao struggled to stay on his feet, "When did you? When did they get me?"

Akio relaxed his stance, "They've been in you since the start of our fight, waiting for my signal."

Isao's eyes widened, "When you hit me and took my sword. You planted these things in me right then, didn't you?"

"Yes. Normally the venom would take longer to spread, but because you hid yourself in that puddle when the pain became noticeable," Akio snorted in amusement, "all you did was perforate all of your cells. You're done."

He grit his teeth, "Screw you!"

Isao closed the rest of the distance between himself and his opponent. If he could finish it soon enough, then the match would still be his despite the venom in his body.

He swung at the Aburame. The stroke was clumsy - the pain dulled his reflexes.

Akio ducked away from the attack and then disarmed Isao with one move.

The Mist ninja cursed loudly. Before he could regain his balance from the momentum, the leaf Genin slammed his face against the wall and pinned him there.

"Hand-seals? Unnecessary for the Aburame. Chakra conversion? Unnecessary. Weapons? Unnecessary."

Isao's eyes widened as Kikaichu gathered around his face. He tried to break the hold on him, but Akio's grasp was firm.

"Have you heard of the Kidaichu?" Akio inquired, "I assure you, it's much more troublesome than a flea."

"Just finish this," Isao hissed.

"Finish? I don't plan on killing you. Maybe taking one of your arms." He lowered his voice, "Like your sword arm? The Kidaichu would devour it until there was nothing left."

"You're sick-"

Hayate broke them apart, "That's enough. Aburame Akio is the winner!"

* * *

"Well, that was fast," Arashi muttered. "Maybe our matches will be that easy?"

Daisuke sniffed, "Probably not. Guess it's time for me to go down there."

"I guess so," she whispered, "Good luck."

"Thanks."

He jumped over the railing and landed on the ground below. Ryota followed behind him.

_Good luck, Daisuke. Wreck that Iwa nin._

Satoshi crossed the room and slid an arm around Arashi's shoulders. The gesture was intimate - as familiar as one she would have used around Itachi. He looked down at her with bright eyes.

Everything in her wanted to stab him, but she refused to let his behavior outwardly ruffle her appearance. That was what he wanted. To shake her up.

"You know, I thought I cut you deep enough," Satoshi whispered and his breath tickled her skin, "And I was for sure that I heard you shatter into little pieces when you hit the ground."

Bile rose in the back of her mouth, but she forced it back down, "Must've surprised you to see me still alive."

"Oh, it did! Hah! You should've heard my teammates, doll. They were all like, 'Her sensei is in ANBU,' that, and 'they'll never find our bodies,' this," he impersonated them, animatedly, "But I told them you wouldn't tell anyone. I knew you were a good girl like that - well, until you told that Uchiha."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh, I didn't have to tell him. You were just too sloppy and he noticed on his own."

Satoshi's expression changed from bright to cold.

"Hey, Satoshi, leave it alone. You'll get to settle things soon," Soma interjected.

The blue eyed Iwa ninja pulled her against his side, defensively, "This might be the last time we ever get to talk!"

Arashi forced a smile on her face and Satoshi grinned down at her.

To the untrained eye, the gestures appeared friendly. A civilian might have mistaken them for friends, but the Genin in the waiting room saw it for what it was.

Arashi and Satoshi were baring their fangs at each other.

"Well," Arashi slid out of his arm, "I'm going to check on Akio."

"Alright, doll."

He waved at her while she walked away.

Akio met her on the staircase. His coat was a ruined, shredded ball of material. He held the remains of it in one hand. Even at the age of thirteen, he was already very muscular. If he did not cover his body up in layers, then anyone could have guessed his proficiency with taijutsu and his strength would not be a surprise for his opponents.

He grimaced as he climbed the stairs.

"You alright?" She stepped in front of him. "Let me take a look you."

He nodded his consent.

The medic kunoichi looked him over. Without his sunglasses hiding them, she could see his eyes and they were surprisingly pleasant. Their shape was sharp and angular and the color was like caramel. She had only seen him without them once or twice and it was never on casual terms.

_I guess I should be checking his injuries and not gaping at him like an idiot._

Akio shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny. One of his hands came up to adjust his sunglasses, but he caught himself and stopped.

"You look nice without them," she assured him.

He snorted and looked away from her.

Arashi lifted his shirt to get a look at his ribs and hissed through her teeth. His side was covered in a large bruise.

"Can you even breathe?" Her eyebrows knit together. "It looks like you got hit by a battering ram."

He shrugged, "I'm managing."

Carefully, she ran her fingers over the bones to make sure none of them were broken. He squirmed a little.

_Oh wow, he's ticklish._

She channeled her chakra into the area and looked toward Daisuke. They had a clear view of the arena from where they were.

"You did a good job. I hope Daisuke pulls through, too."

"Hn."

"I think I'll watch his match from here. I really don't want to be in the waiting room," she admitted.

He nodded, "We won't miss anything here."

Arashi lowered his shirt when she was done. She regretted all the years she spent ostracizing him when she could have gotten to know him.

_It would have saved us both such a headache._

* * *

Daisuke hated direct combat. He was ill suited for it and everyone that knew him realized that.

"Well, let's see how this goes without your friends to help you," Ryota smirked.

The Iwa ninja in front of him realized it, as well.

Daisuke sniffed in distaste, "I left one of your teammates screaming on his face, or did you forget?"

"Soma's of no account."

"Right."

Hayate coughed into his hand and cleared his throat. He glanced between the two one last time to give them another chance to say what they wanted before the match.

"Begin!"

Daisuke formed a hand-seal and disappeared.

"Hiding?" Ryota spat on the ground. "Fine by me."

The Iwa ninja formed several hand-seals and the earth around him was pulled onto his skin. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as chakra imbued the dirt and strengthened it. The jutsu took precision and time to perform.

Ryota watched for an attack, but Daisuke remained hidden. He snorted to himself in amusement and closed his eyes.

"Well, I guess I should thank you for letting me set up, but now I don't think you'll stand any chance," he called out. "You're a visual genjutsu type. If I don't look at your jutsu, then it won't work."

Daisuke remained silent.

Ryota sniffed the air and caught the scent of paint, "Found you!"

He swung his fist toward the smell and made contact with a body. A sense of victory rushed through him, but it was short lived. Something felt wrong.

He opened his eyes to see Daisuke laying at his feet.

The world began to spin around him. He took a step back. The angles and shapes of everything seemed _wrong_. Ryota raised both hands to his head and tried to steady himself.

"Oi, what's going on?"

He stumbled forward and nudged the body on the ground. His brow furrowed once more as Daisuke started to melt.

It was made of paint.

"A clone?"

Ryota looked at his arm. It was splattered with paint from when he punched the clone. He shook his arm to rid himself of the substance, but a pulse of chakra almost knocked him off his feet.

The dizzy spell intensified.

The Iwa ninja bit his lip until it bled, but it did nothing to dispel the effects of the jutsu. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. If he could locate Daisuke and take him out before the illusion was in full effect, then he would pull through and the genjutsu would be null.

A child's giggle caught him off guard.

Ryota's eyes shot open and he sucked in a sharp breath.

He was in a tiny room. There were no doors in order to leave and the walls had so many layers of paint from the images on them that they were closing in.

"Do you like to paint?"

Ryota looked down at a small boy. He had bright, amber eyes and shaggy black hair. His face was splattered with different colors and his clothes were ruined, but he did not seem to notice.

"Well, do you?"

Ryota sneered at the paint brush that was offered to him.

"I'm done with your genjutsu!"

The Iwa ninja punched through the child.

His body turned to paint and sprayed across the walls."

"Don't you want to play with me?" The child's whispered voice came from behind.

Ryota spun around and froze. The walls were closer and the space for him to move was smaller. The paint pooled together and reformed into the child's body.

"Clouds make me happy," the boy confided in him. "Happy little clouds."

He dabbed at the walls with white. Each dab made Ryota's head ache and caused the dizziness to intensify.

"If you drag them up like this with the brush, it makes them fluffy. See?"

Each stroke added to the walls.

He was painting them in.

The Iwa ninja struggled to breathe. There was no way out and every second the room was closing in.

He slammed his fists against one of the walls and pain erupted through him. He sank to his knees. He had never experienced an illusion like this. Everything was so _real._

The images all around him, the boy giggling at him, the pain running through him - he could not decipher what was fake and what was reality.

Delirium set in.

He looked down at his hand. The shape and dimensions were wrong. His form was all _wrong_. Desperately, the Iwa ninja clawed at the earth armor to get it off. His skin ached from the contact between the two.

Drops of red pattered on his arm.

Ryota paused. Was his nose bleeding? Did he hurt himself when he struggled to get out? He wiped it away and tested the consistency with his fingers. He expected blood, but it was paint.

There was no red anywhere in the room. He lifted his hand to touch his nose and his eyes widened.

The paint was coming from him.

"Oh, yes. I need a little red!" The boy wiped the red off Ryota's arm with a brush. "I have a friend that likes this color. Do you think she'll like all of this?"

Ryota coughed and more paint sprayed out. He tried to take a step back from the boy, but he was already against a wall. Every time he tried to speak, all he could choke out was more paint. He would have screamed, but he could not draw enough air into his lungs.

"You should help me. I like it when other people join in," the boy sniffed. "I'm starting to think you don't want to play with me at all."

Ryota would have told him anything to make it all stop at that point, but he was unable.

"Fine!" He huffed.

The walls around them began to run down into the floor and flood the rest of the room. The Iwa ninja watched in horror as his arms melted to join the torrent of paint.

Hayate and Daisuke stood together and watched as Ryota thrashed on the ground and fainted.

"Well," the amber eyed boy sniffed, "That took even longer than I thought it would."

"What kind of genjutsu did you even throw on that guy?"

"I dunno," Daisuke shrugged. "Everyone perceives art differently, so I'm not exactly sure what he saw."

Hayate coughed into his hand.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you want me to go over there and stab him a few times? Because I don't think he's getting up."

The proctor shook his head in amusement, "Kurama Daisuke is the winner!"

* * *

Arashi swallowed over the lump in her throat.

_This is it._

Akio touched her shoulder and nodded.

She forced a smile and walked down to the arena. It seemed impossible that it was finally time to end what started a month before. Every day since then had been dedicated to this one event.

Daisuke intercepted her.

"Good job," she told him. "I mean, I can only wish my match is going to go that well."

"Yeah, well, Ryota's an idiot. If he was any smarter, he probably would've won," he sniffed, "Anyway, I'm not going to say anything sappy - just good luck and I hope you destroy him."

"Thanks, Daisuke."

She walked to Hayate and waited for Satoshi.

The Iwa ninja was confident and every step he took announced it to the world. He smiled up to the crowd and waved. Once he was in the middle of the arena, he turned his attention to her. His lips twisted into a grin and the predatory gleam returned to his eyes.

_His grin is the most haunting thing about him._

Arashi took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"This is going to be fun," he told her.

She ignored him.

"Begin!"

Satoshi stabbed at her with his spear.

Arashi ducked under it, _I hate that thing!_

She pulled out a kunai with a paper bomb on it and threw it at him.

His eyes widened and they both leaped back. The explosion enveloped the area with a cloud of dust.

_I have to hurry!_

She pressed her palm against the wall.

_One fuinjutsu planted!_

A mass of chakra flew out of the cloud of dust and her eyes widened - it was Satoshi's spear. She jerked back as it slammed into the wall beside her. The impact of the weapon left a crater.

The breath caught in her throat. There was a gash down the length of her arm that the Fuin Shugotenshi was knitting back together.

_He infused it with chakra. If that thing hits me, I'm dead._

Arashi felt Satoshi's chakra channeling into the ground and pulling the dirt onto his skin.

_Yes! I need him to think I don't want him using that jutsu! It'll buy me time and make him slow!_

She threw another paper bomb in his direction and sprinted away from his spear. Satoshi stopped channeling and jumped away to avoid the blast.

Arashi pressed her palm into another section of the wall, _Two out of six planted._

Satoshi's chakra shot into the ground again. Arashi's eyebrows knit together.

_Some sort of bunshin jutsu?_

The wet soil around the Iwa shinobi reformed into five mud clones.

_Oh boy. He's definitely the most advanced in his squad, but those things are only about as strong as a Mizu Bunshin no jutsu._

The clones sprinted after her.

_They're fast, but not too fast. _Her eyes narrowed. _He's probably gauging my speed._

Instead of running faster, Arashi channeled chakra into her hands to form scalpels. She was tired of playing his games.

One of the clones aimed a low sweep kick at her.

She jumped over the attack and nailed the clone in the chest with a scalpel. It crumbled to the ground and the chakra within it extinguished.

Arashi slammed her palm into another area on the wall, _Three planted._

Satoshi began to channel his chakra back into the dirt to form his armor. She glanced over to make sure that was the only thing he was doing.

Just to take a fist to the face from one of the remaining clones.

Her glasses shattered and flew off to clatter on the ground. She shrugged the blow off and destroyed the clone with a jab.

Arashi ducked under another attack and jumped onto the wall. As she ran around the arena, she planted the fourth fuinjutsu.

_His armor is almost complete, I think._

She threw another bomb, but this time Satoshi did not move.

The explosion boomed out through the stadium and her ears rang. The audience cheered in excitement - the Iwa ninja had taken that head on.

Arashi frowned. She knew he was uninjured from the strength of his signature.

_He's better at that technique than his teammates. He put it together faster than Ryota and from the consistency of chakra, I'd bet it's stronger._

Now that his defensive jutsu was complete, Satoshi made his way to his spear.

Arashi weaved between another attack from the clones. From the first day she decided to become a medic ninja, one basic thing was ingrained into her - evading damage in order to survive.

She pulled out a kunai and sliced the head off another clone.

Satoshi pulled his spear from the wall and heaved it at the kunoichi.

Arashi grit her teeth. She grabbed one of the two remaining clones and used it as a shield.

_His aim is unreal with that thing!_

The spear decimated the clone and left another crater in the wall.

_Five!_ She quickly transferred the fuinjutsu beside the weapon.

Arashi dropped down to the ground and sprinted toward the center of the arena. There was a gash in her shoulder that was mending as she ran. She wanted to get to the other side in order to put distance between herself and her opponent.

Satoshi formed several hand-seals and placed his hands on the ground. His chakra flowed through the arena in bursts.

Arashi's eyes widened.

Hands shot out of the ground and caught her leg and one of her arms. The grip was so firm that bruises were already forming. She pulled against them, but it felt like she was trying to pull down a mountain.

The last mud clone was closing in on her.

She cursed under her breath and grabbed a kunai with her free hand. She channeled chakra into it and slashed through the earth hands to free herself.

_This is bad!_

Arashi evaded a punch from the last clone and jabbed through it with her infused kunai.

_Six! All of them are planted now!_

Satoshi walked toward her, calmly. He no longer cared to hide the predatory expression on his face with a grin or any falsehoods of friendliness.

Arashi's eyes fell on the spear in his grasp, _I can't summon Sukai while he has that thing. I won't risk him killing my bird!_

She tried to navigate her way through the earth hands. They grabbed onto her clothes and even ripped some of her hair out as she tried to put distance between Satoshi and herself.

Arashi glanced back at him and her stomach turned, _He's been letting me scurry around like this because he likes to see me run.._

She could not go fast enough to get away from him with his jutsu slowing her down.

He jumped over a cluster of hands and grinned at her, "I guess this is it, doll?"

Satoshi lunged at her with his spear.

Arashi fell to her knees to avoid the blade and slapped a tag onto the shaft.

It lit up and Satoshi cursed loudly.

The kunoichi jumped away and the Iwa ninja tossed his weapon seconds before the explosive went off. The blast wave threw her and when she landed, she was disoriented.

_Have to move fast while he doesn't have his weapon!_ She used the blood already soaked into her clothing and formed the five hand-seals for the kuchiyose no jutsu.

With a shrill cry, Sukai appeared above her.

Before Satoshi could make a move, Arashi jumped on the falcon's back. With a few beats of his wings they were well out of the Iwa ninja's range.

Arashi triggered the hidden fuinjutsu. All at once they lit up and a massive amount of black powder flowed out of them and onto the ground. The gale that came with Sukai picked the powder up and coated everything below them with it.

The kunoichi breathed a sigh of relief and looked upward, blearily. She extended her arms to enjoy the freedom for a few seconds. It was almost over.

"It's time, Sukai!" She called to him.

"_Kak!_"

He gathered chakra into his wings and she inhaled deeply.

"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"

Together they unleashed their jutsu. The wind beneath his wings formed into a maelstrom of wind and the fireball combined with it.

The combination jutsu hit the ground like an inferno and ignited the black powder. The stadium was filled with a deafening hiss as the powder burned and everyone was blinded by the flash of light from the combustion. A large cloud of smoke rushed through the area.

Arashi pulled a scroll out of her pack and formed the tiger hand-seal.

Down below, on the wall, Hayate peered through the smoke with stinging eyes. His shoulders shook as he hacked his way through a coughing fit. Once the smoke cleared and he could breathe again, he dropped back down to the ground.

"The Chuunin Exams are going to be the death of me," he muttered.

Sukai glided around the arena and Arashi glanced about. Satoshi was nowhere to be seen on the surface, but she could feel his signature just fine.

_Perfect! He went underground._

Everything was coming together.

"Sukai, get me close enough so I can jump down, but keep at a distance. You don't want to get hit by his spear. Trust me."

"_Kak," _the falcon adjusted his flight to comply with her orders.

Arashi slid from his back and landed on the ground. The grass was singed away, the trees were destroyed, and the scent of black powder made it hard to breathe.

_I know he's here._

His signature shifted under her feet and he erupted from the ground behind her.

The tip of his spear pierced completely through her. The force of the hit knocked the scroll from her hands.

"Finally!" Satoshi shouted.

The kage bunshin poofed away.

The scroll lit up and the kanji written on the paper disappeared. With a _pop_ sound, Arashi unsealed herself and jabbed at Satoshi with a chakra scalpel.

Her fingers hit his throat - just as he knocked her back with his elbow with as much force as he could muster.

To say that the hit knocked Arashi through a loop would have been an understatement.

She flew through the air and landed in a heap while Satoshi crumpled. Her ribs were fractured - she was sure of it - but the Shugotenshi was already in action to fix the damage. She rolled to her knees, grit her teeth, and stood.

Just as she was certain her ribs were in bad shape, she had no doubt that her scalpel had pierced not only his jugular but his spinal cord, as well.

Satoshi looked around with scared eyes as medics ran to his side.

Arashi watched, unblinking, as his signature expired.

_It's really over._

Hayate looked between the two and announced, "Ran Arashi is the winner!"

A roar of applause and cheering broke out.

The kunoichi looked up at them and then over at Hayate, "I forfeit the next match. I'm done."

His expression shifted to confusion and he shrugged, "If that's what you want."

"Yeah, it is."

She walked back toward the waiting room. It was not bittersweet, like she thought victory would be. There was no sweetness to it. Only bitterness.

Soma and Ryota leaped down from the waiting room and charged her with a cry of outrage. Her eyes widened. She could tell from the expressions on their faces that they were going to kill her to avenge their teammate.

Arashi braced herself and her senses came into focus - she had come too far to die to them now.

In a flash, a silver haired ANBU cut off the two Iwa Genin and left them in a groaning pile on the ground. Arashi stared, dumbfounded.

The encounter was over so fast that she did not catch all of it.

His chakra coursed through him like lightning. Standing even this close to him sent chills down her spine and made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It had been years since she had seen this person and even longer since they spoke.

_Kakashi?_

He glanced over his shoulder at her and then turned his attention back to the Iwa shinobi. Even with his mask on, she could never mistake him for anyone else.

Daisuke and Akio ran down the stairs and out to her.

She sent a furtive glance toward Kakashi's back, _Thank you, ANBU-san._

Arashi met her teammates halfway and greeted them with a shaky laugh, "I did it, huh?"

Akio snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, that's an understatement," Daisuke looked up. "So, when were you going to tell us about the giant bird you just pulled out of your ass?"

"Um, yeah," she squinted at him, "I'm going to go see how my mom's holding up to seeing me kill someone just now."

Daisuke scrunched up his nose, "Really? Have fun with that."

* * *

The nerves of the ordeal hit her in force as Sukai carried her out of the arena and into the seating. Civilians gawked at the bird as it flew over their heads and landed in the main back of the stadium. Her hands shook as she slid off his back.

"Good job, little Arashi. _Kak_," Sukai gathered her under his wing.

She pressed into his downy feathers with a sigh, "I don't know how to feel about any of this."

"_Kak?_ Simple. You survived. Revile in it."

She snorted, "It's not so easy for me right now."

He ruffled his feathers.

Down below, they were sorting out the attempted attack from the Iwa Genin and preparing for the next match. Arashi knew where her parents were seated, but she needed a minute before she faced them. It bothered her that her brother and mother saw what happened.

"Good job." Ibiki leaned against a wall behind her and crossed his arms.

She looked over at him, "Really?"

He nodded, gruffly.

Arashi separated herself from the falcon and ran her hands over her ribs. They were still tender, but everything was back in order.

The silence was bothering her, so she broke it, "How do you think Daisuke and Akio will do in their next rounds?"

"Fine until they face each other. Then Daisuke will forfeit."

Arashi blinked and then laughed, "I wouldn't fight Akio, either!"

It was not long before she felt her family approaching her location.

_This is who and what I am now, I guess, _she squared herself. _Heck, they chose to watch. For all they knew, I could've gotten killed today._

Her father greeted her with a warm smile. The ease in which he approached her and wrapped an arm around her for a quick hug was enough to alleviate some of her nerves. She never doubted he would understand.

Kazika looked at her with wide eyes and then hugged her legs.

_Yeah, I should've figured he wouldn't be bothered. I think the reason he liked that Sen guy was because he slaughtered a band of bandits or something. He's a bloodthirsty little teddy bear._

Naomi regarded her with her lips drawn into a thin line.

_Yeah, this probably isn't good for her. No civilian woman wants to see their kid do something like that,_ Arashi frowned, "Mom, I-"

"Why did you forfeit?" Naomi snapped.

Arashi stared at her, "What?"

"You won. You should've given the next fight a chance."

"Mom," she blinked, slowly, "Did you have a bet placed on me?"

"What?" Her mother looked wounded, "Of course not! And it's a good thing, too, since you threw your next match without even trying!"

Arashi rubbed her temples, "I love you, Mom."

Kazika shook her, "Look! Look! It's Sen!"

About thirty feet away, a Kiri Jounin squinted over at them as he stepped out of a restroom. Kazika waved wildly at him. He lifted a hand to wave back and walked away.

_So, that's him, huh?_

Sen had brown eyes, dark brown hair, stubble on his chin, and a scar on his cheek. He wore basic armor that had seen more than a few battles. His appearance was not what stood out to Arashi. He carried two katana with him. One was normal, but she got a strange feeling about the other.

_Chakra blades are kinda odd, anyway. They keep traces of signatures in them._

"Isn't he cool?" her brother whispered, loudly.

"Oh, calm down, Kazika." Naomi sighed. "He'll be coming over with my little noble friend soon for tea before they go back to Kirigakure."

Arashi leaned against her father and smiled to herself.

_It's over. I made it through._

She hoped that the bitter taste in her mouth would go away soon.

* * *

That's it for chapter 19! It's seems so unreal that I'm finally done with it. You guys have no idea how hard it was for me to write all of these fights. I hope everyone liked it and if anyone has any advice on how to write battles, please share. I also apologize for all of the typos I'm sure I left in there.

Okay, everyone. It may be a few days before I get to update (I usually aim to bulk write on weekends) because of how busy this month is for me. I will chip away at the next chapter so I can hopefully get it out quickly, but I'm not making any guarantees that it will be in the next couple days.

As you all wait, do some speculating! haha

Who do you think will become Chuunin?

Which battle did you like the most?

Where do you see Team Morino's careers heading in the future?

What have you liked about the OCs so far?

Can I write a fight scene worth a hoot?

Was this chapter too large? (My fingers say yes!)

And ohhhhhh, Kakashi made a brief appearance!

If anyone has any suggestions, criticisms, or feedback of any kind - feel free to share in a review! I adore getting reviews. They make me all warm and fuzzy feeling and I appreciate all of them.

Buh-Bye Satoshi!

* * *

**TheRealPein**: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review. I hope you like this chapter since Satoshi's finally eats it.

**Guest:** Your review is quite possibly one of the best I have ever gotten. :) You made me all giddy when I saw this. Part 1 is quite fluffy - one of the reasons why it was so short! I tend to prefer writing darker things. You are one of the few people that seems to enjoy Akio and Daisuke (which lands you brownie points). Beyond that, you have no idea how happy I am that you consider Arashi to not be overpowered or over-rewarded (which might change with the blitzing she sorta did in this chapter...). Ibiki and Itachi are a bit difficult to write, but they're also very fun. :D I have worked very hard at this fanfiction and I intend to see it all the way through to the end. I will miss Satoshi, though.. He was so fun to write. sigh. Thank you so much for your review!

**aturnofthepage:** And the Satoshi ordeal is finally over! Now she has to figure out what to do about these pesky, terrifying feelings she has for Itachi. Thank you for the review and I'm happy you enjoyed the last two chapters. :) Hopefully your finals went very well, btw.

**True Guardian Angel:** hahah I figured you'd like the last one. :)

**tentaclecat**: Thanks for the review! It thrills me that you enjoy this little fanfiction of mine and that Satoshi had an effect on you. I was actually hell-bent on killing him off in this chapter instead of breaking it into two chapters, which I really could have done in hind sight. OH well. :) I hope you enjoy these fights and I hope you appreciate how Arashi takes her stalker out.


	20. Well Done

**Chapter 20: Well Done**

I'd like to apologize for how long this chapter took me to write. It was a ridiculously busy week for me. I hope that this chapter does not feel too draggy in places and too rushed in others. Thank you to everyone who continues to read, follow, favorite, and review this fanfiction! It makes my day. :) Also, please look over any typos I've probably overlooked.

Also! I made a tumblr account when I was bored one night. I intend to post snippets and perhaps oneshots that are related to this project but probably won't make it into the chapters in order to avoid an excessive amount of 'filler' and to keep the pace of the story going. Look up nobirdwithinthecage, if you would like to check any of it out. I'm open to writing prompts, as well.

* * *

**Song**: Icon for Hire - Hope of Morning

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: In which the result of the Chuunin Selection Exam is revealed, Arashi visits the Uchiha compound, and her mother has company over.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Well Done**

Arashi hardly paid attention to the rest of the fights. It was hard to see what was happening without glasses from her seat with the audience. Yoshiro, beat Soma. The fight was brutal, but over fast. Next he fought his teammate Kenji and pulled through. Daisuke managed to beat the Kiri Shinobi, but forfeited the final match that was between Akio and himself. The tournament ended quickly.

Once everything was over, each participant was excused with the instructions to report back to the Hokage's office in two days. The judges needed that time to review all the parts of the exam, each participant's abilities, and their previous missions. Only after they were done consulting with each other over each of the Genin that made it all the way through and survived would they make their decisions. There was a chance that all of them would become a Chuunin, just as there was a chance that none of them would be promoted.

The streets were still packed with people from outside the Hidden Village, but only a small amount of them were from foreign Lands. Naomi stayed busy with the influx of business that came with the lively tourists. The restaurants were packed, stores were wracking in profits, and Ookami went back to spending most of his time working.

Arashi spent most of her free day in bed, sleeping. The exhaustion of everything that happened with Satoshi did not melt away as his life slipped away as she hoped it would. If anything, feeling his signature flicker out sucked even more energy out of her. His death made nothing right. The scar across her throat was still there, she still had spikes of fear in the night, and she found herself wondering what her life would have been like as a civilian. The thought that he would never harm another girl again was one of the few things that brought her comfort.

ANBU were still busy monitoring the foreign shinobi and any tourists that were possibly spies. If Ibiki was not Arashi's sensei and if she did not notice how busy Itachi stayed, then she might have thought there was a sense of camaraderie between the different Lands. Instead, she saw how closely they watched each other for weaknesses.

If she thought about it too much, then it would leave her chilled.

* * *

Arashi met her teammates and Sensei outside the Hokage's office.

Akio was wearing a new coat and had the hood pulled over his head. He seemed much more comfortable now that he had all of his layers on. Daisuke still wore the paint that made her dizzy when she looked at him, but it was toned down considerably.

_Wearing your genjutsu just in case you land yourself in a tight situation is a pretty good idea, I guess._

Ibiki looked his team over one last time and motioned for them to follow him.

_Now to hear the final results._

Arashi did not have high expectations for herself. She doubted they would judge her favorably after she forfeited. She could have easily stayed around for another fight.

All of the participants lined up in front of the Hokage and all of the proctors. Daisuke and Akio stood at her sides while the two remaining Iwa shinobi glared at her from the corners of their eyes. Psychopath or not, Satoshi was a part of their squad and Arashi did kill him. It was of no surprise that they did not care for her after her victory, but she ignored them. What was done was done.

The Third exhaled a breath of smoke, "Each of you performed excellently, but only four of you have proven ready to be a Chuunin."

_Four? That's half of us!_

"It is not often that we have such a show of skill in a single Selection Exam," the old kage continued. "You should all be proud."

The Third nodded to one of the proctors.

The Chuunin stepped forward and announced, "Saito Yoshiro, Kurama Daisuke, Aburame Akio, and Ran Arashi. You are all being promoted to Chuunin."

At first the words did not register in her ears. She blinked a few times as Ibiki and three other proctors distributed vests and the certificates verifying their new rank to the fresh Chuunin. The two Mist Genin congratulated their friend and Daisuke said something, but it all droned together in the background.

The kunoichi grabbed her Sensei's sleeve and shot him an incredulous look.

He smirked at her reaction, nodded, and tugged out of her grasp.

_No way. _She looked down at her vest. _I'm a Chuunin?!_

The Hokage gave a speech about the importance of their new roles. Once again, Arashi was struck by how _long winded_ the elderly man was.

_I guess if I live to be his age, I'll have a lot to talk about, too._

After they were dismissed, Ibiki gathered his students and they stood outside together.

_Is this really all there is to us as a team?_ Arashi glanced at her teammates and frowned. _We've only just started getting along._

"This is the end of us as Genin and Sensei," Ibiki announced, "you are all well on your way to being fine shinobi, but if you need any advice or help from me, you know where to find me."

"Chuunin or not, I'm not done with you," Daisuke sniffed. "There's still a lot I want to learn from you."

Ibiki crossed his arms, "So, you intend to hone your skills for my ward?"

"Of course. I can't really think of anything else that would suit me," the genjutsu specialist replied.

"Hn. I want more instruction, as well," Akio admitted.

"Is that so?" Ibiki smirked.

"Well," Arashi shrugged, "I don't think you're getting rid of us so easily. Can't just undo two years of us being dependent on you by handing us tacky vests and a piece of paper."

"And here I've thought the two years of training I put all of you through was supposed to do that." The Jounin chuckled, "Well, I have paperwork. I'm sure you fledgling Chuunin can handle yourselves until after I'm caught up for the day."

He formed a hand-seal and exited with a shunshin no jutsu.

Arashi waved the smoke out of her face, "You know, I didn't think any of us would make it. I mean, younger people have been promoted, but they were really impressive shinobi."

Akio gave her a flat look and one of his eyebrows rose above his sunglasses.

"Really, Shi-Shi-chan?" Daisuke sniffed. "Are you saying you've secretly thought we were scrubs? I'm hurt."

_When did I ever keep it secret?_ Arashi bit the inside of her cheek to suppress the snide remark, "No, but we're not the most impressive shinobi of this generation, either."

Daisuke crossed his arms and threw his nose up in distaste. The flak vest dangled from his grasp, awkwardly.

"Oh, shush and put your vest on," she mumbled. "Let's see how we look in these things."

With a shrug, Daisuke slid it on and sneered down at it. Arashi slipped into hers and pursed her lips.

"Some shinobi look like they were born in these things," she commented.

"Yeah, but it looks like we're being eaten by them, instead," Daisuke muttered.

Akio grunted, "Are these even meant to fit?"

Arashi glanced over at the Aburame. Akio had put the vest on over his coat and it was still too large. She disguised a laugh as a cough and tilted her head to one side to get a better look.

"I don't think it's supposed to go on over your coat," she commented.

Akio frowned and adjusted his hood with a grunt.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be wearing these," Daisuke took his off.

"Yeah, no." Arashi agreed.

They lapsed into silence. When either Daisuke or Arashi would start to say something, they would cut themselves off. Akio watched them in silence.

_We can't just stand here all day, lost._

"Well," Arashi finally cleared her throat. "I need to work on my Fuin Shugotenshi some more, so I can't hang around, but," she played with the end of her scarf, "I don't want this to be the end of _us_. Sure, we're all Chuunin now and we'll be busier, but I guess I'd like to think we can all be friends even if we're no longer on a Genin squad together?"

Daisuke and Akio glanced at each other.

It reminded her vividly of when they were given the option to keep her as a teammate by Ibiki. She subconsciously braced herself for rejection. Up to this point in her life she had few friends and all of those were people she proclaimed as her friend. None of it was gradual or started by the other person. She simply decided like the spoiled girl she was that she wanted it.

She felt rather socially inept in regards to initiating a _friendship_ and it did not help that these two boys were people she openly and actively disliked for years.

"Sure, whatever," Daisuke shrugged, "We can slip into a restaurant or something between missions and complain about responsibilities or something."

Akio grunted his approval.

Arashi smiled in relief, "Alright. Thanks, guys."

They lapsed into silence again.

"Anyway, I'm going to go do something productive before the day is over," she awkwardly excused herself, "I'll see you two later."

* * *

Now that she no longer had her match with Satoshi as a main concern, she was able to focus on other things. Her project was not complete. It needed to be adjusted and the issue that caused the scarring across her throat needed to be corrected. After hours of reviewing it, she was fairly certain she knew where the error was. It needed just a minor change to set the jutsu on the right course from what she could tell.

Thoughtfully, she slid her fingers under her scarf to touch the scar.

_Maybe I should get some help with this to be sure?_

As talented as she was in fuinjutsu, she realized she could learn much from people that were more experienced and knowledgeable. Shisui's recommendation echoed in her ears.

_I'm not sure which Jounin specialize in this stuff and I don't want to go to just some random person with my project._

She pursed her lips and rested her elbows on the table in front of her.

_Hmm._

Arashi looked around the library.

_Wait a second._

The Third Hokage was known as the _Professor_ because of his knowledge.

_It was the Sandaime's decision to let me use his library. He must have seen something promising in the Fuin Shugotenshi if he decided to let me have this privilege. Even if he doesn't want to help me or doesn't have time, then maybe he can send me in the right direction._

Her lips drew into a thin line.

_I guess it's time to request a short meeting with him?_

* * *

Arashi felt awkward as she found one of the Hokage's aides and voiced her request. She had never felt comfortable in her kage's presence. He was a living, breathing legend. Sarutobi Hiruzen was the strongest kage Konoha had ever known and quite possibly the strongest shinobi that the Land of Fire produced so far in its history. He was not just the kindhearted grandfather-figure of the Village - he was a warrior that every shinobi should either respect or fear.

_I'll run this by him and then be right out of his hair. No big deal, right? Just have to wait around until he has a moment to see me._

Arashi would not have described herself as the nervous type until a shinobi ushered her to the Third's office door and walked away. The kunoichi's hands were typically steady - something she was proud of - but as she lifted a fist to knock on the door, it shook like a leaf in the wind.

_Lovely._

She tapped her knuckles against the wood a few times and cracked the door open to peer inside, "Hokage-sama?"

"There you are," he smiled good naturedly. "You needed to speak with me?"

"Yeah, I just wanted your advice on something really quick."

He motioned for her to sit in front of his desk.

"Well," she placed a copy of her jutsu between them, "I found a minor issue with my jutsu right here," she pointed to it and rushed on, "and I think by making this adjustment it will work, but I wanted your advice. This is very important to me and I have to be sure."

He peered over it and hummed to himself, "Let's discuss this over a cup of tea?"

"Oh, uh - okay."

Within minutes they were pouring over the document with their drinks in hand. The herbal scent helped ease her nervousness. The way that it mingled with the heavy smell of tobacco gave the atmosphere a distinct quality.

_Hmm. This tea is really familiar._

It struck her that it was the same kind that she would sometimes wake up to in the library.

_Wait a second._

She looked at the tea, then the Third and then the tea again.

_Was he behind it and not some friendly ANBU that recognized me?_

Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke and motioned toward the cup with his pipe, "I find that tea helps me focus on things that would otherwise be tedious or difficult, especially in the mornings or at night. Don't you agree?"

_It was him!_ She nodded and looked down at her lap, "Yes, and thank you Sandaime-sama."

"There were those who questioned whether it was worth redirecting Ibiki's time into a Genin team, but I believe you, Akio, and Daisuke will continue to show that it was indeed worth the effort. Well done, Arashi."

If she could have, she would have hidden under something to hide the embarrassed look on her face.

"I'm grateful that I was a part of that squad."

He leaned forward again and scanned over her work, "It's refreshing to see a kunoichi with your potential. I am fond of fuinjutsu. When I was shown the beginnings of this, I knew I wanted to see what you could do if given the proper resources. Konoha's wellbeing is _my_ wellbeing. I care for all of these people like they are my own flesh and blood. I would like to see this jutsu of yours save lives."

The Hokage took a draw from his pipe. In the grand scheme of everything she doubted it would save a vast amount of lives, but if it could save even a few it would be worth the effort she put into it.

"I understand," she replied. "And thank you for your time. I know you stay very, very busy and I don't mean to intrude or anything."

He chuckled, "Nonsense. I enjoy working on puzzles like this. It's good to exercise your mind."

"I guess that's why some people call you the Professor?"

"I've been called worse."

_Oh my, he has a sense of humor,_ She giggled behind a hand, "Sandaime-sama!"

The corners of his eyes crinkled with his grin.

They went over every step of the jutsu together. Hiruzen was very knowledgeable and had more than a few pieces of advice to give her along the way. The tense nervousness that weighed her down and made her hands shake was soon replaced by a sense of fascination. She had never gotten to talk to someone who was leaps and bounds better at fuinjutsu than she was. At least not since Kushina was first teaching her. Even the instructors in the Academy only had a limited understanding of the subject and it was not something pushed onto the students.

Something glinted to the side of them.

Arashi tore her attention away from the lesson she was receiving to see what it was. It was a crystal ball. She raised an eyebrow at it and shot an inquisitive look toward Hiruzen.

"Oh, that old thing?" He retrieved it and offered it to her, "I use it to keep an eye on the Village."

She accepted it and turned it in her hands, "What jutsu do you use?"

"The tomegane no jutsu."

"I'm not familiar with it," she admitted. "How does it work?"

"Here," he plucked it out of her hands and set it on the table, "It is not a jutsu that many are able to use. It requires the user to know the target's chakra pattern. As such, only sensor types that are able to distinguish between signatures are able to utilize it."

Arashi leaned forward, fascinated, "Really?"

Perhaps it was the eager curiosity in her eyes or the way her face lit up, but something about her reaction was amusing to the old man.

"As a demonstration, let's see what Naruto is up to," the Third suggested.

The kunoichi watched as an image of the boy appeared within the ball. Her eyebrows rose. It showed more than just Naruto. His surroundings were included, as well.

_I've never seen anything quite like this._ She squinted. _He's supposed to be in class right now. Skipping again, huh?_

The boy turned down a street and stood in front of a house that was surrounded by a sizeable garden. An elderly woman sat in front of a pond with a cat at each of her sides as she fed the fish. Arashi was struck with an intense sensation of déjà vu.

_That's Chiharo._

Her back stiffened and Naruto crept onto her property.

_Oh, no he isn't!_

She looked up at the Third to find his eyebrows knit in annoyance.

_Yep.. Naruto's up to no good and the Hokage knows it. _She pursed her lips and turned her attention back to the ball. _That boy might be biting off more than he can chew with that crazy old lady._

"Oh boy," she whispered.

Naruto did not make it far before the old woman shot toward him with a broom in hand. The boy screamed and ran.

Chiharo pressed one hand to her hip - it had been giving her problems for years now - and swiped at the boy with her makeshift weapon.

"He better be happy she hasn't caught him," Arashi mumbled. "That woman is scary."

Naruto tripped and landed on his face.

The old woman shrieked in laughter as she closed the distance between them.

The boy scrambled on his hands and knees to get away - narrowly dodging another swipe of the broom.

_If she wanted, she could've already flogged the orange out of his shirt,_ Arashi bit back and laugh. _I'm going to have a talk with him about trespassing. Maybe this will be a good lesson?_

Chiharo chased the boy to the end of the street before she gave up on her chase. Arashi and the Third looked at each other and shook their heads in both amusement and frustration.

"So," she cleared her throat, "That's the tomegane no jutsu!"

The old man chuckled, "Yes. Perhaps when we both have free time, I could teach you this technique?"

_The Sandaime is offering to teach me a jutsu? Me!_

The possibilities of what she could do boggled her mind. With her sensing abilities, she could familiarize herself to a target's chakra and use the jutsu to gather in depth intel. If she practiced with it, there was a chance she could set herself up in a nice position outside of the medical field if she wanted. Daisuke wanted to work under Ibiki. If she mastered this, then she could potentially work with them even if she ended up in a different division.

Spying from a distance did not require advanced combat skills. That meant it was a possibility for her.

_I can practice spying on Daisuke, Akio, and maybe Itachi!_

She could answer certain questions she had too much dignity to ask them about, such as what Daisuke's hair looked like wet, what Akio looked like without the three to four layers of clothes he kept on, or if Itachi hums in the shower.

_Oh, wait. Apparently, I just want to see everyone naked._ Her face heated up. _What's wrong with me?_

"Well?" The Third watched her.

Arashi's expression went blank, "Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid the temptation might be too much."

He began to ask her to clarify what she meant but his eyes lit up in realization and his mouth snapped shut. She tried to pretend she was somewhere else. Instead of explaining her stance any farther, she took a sip of tea.

Hiruzen cleared his throat, "One advantage of the jutsu is that the targets are completely unaware."

Arashi choked on her beverage, "Sandaime-sama!"

* * *

Arashi never thought she would find a kindred spirit of sorts in the Third Hokage. They were both sensors, they shared a passion for fuinjutsu, as well as having a mutual soft spot for Naruto.

_And we're both closet perverts, apparently._

No one needed to know she still intended to take the Hokage up on his offer. The pros outweighed any cons she could think of.

_Time to tell Mom the good news._

"Guess what, Mom?" Arashi examined her nails with a smug expression on her life.

Naomi preened in a mirror, "What's that?"

"Come on. Guess."

"You have your first date?"

Arashi's face soured, "No. I'm a Chuunin now, Mom."

Naomi made sure her eyebrows were good before she regarded her daughter, "Congratulations! We'll have to go out somewhere nice to celebrate when your father has an evening off!"

_Oh yeah. Better make sure those brows are on point before you even look at me,_ Arashi crossed her arms, "So, what's up?"

"Hm? Oh!" Naomi grinned, "I have company coming over this evening."

"Those Kiri people?"

"Of course. They'll be leaving the village soon."

"Mhm."

Arashi was a little disappointed in her mother.

"Oh, and I forgot," Naomi fetched a basket full of various lotions and hair care products. "These are for Mikoto. I promised I'd keep an eye out for some things for her before I left and I keep forgetting to take them to her."

"So, you're wanting to get me out of the house so you can finish getting everything ready and you're using my best friend's mother as an excuse?"

"Basically."

"Wow, Mom. Wow."

"Look everyone knew you'd get your promotion with the show you put on and I really am proud of you, but - I get to entertain _nobility_!"

"I don't even have words." Arashi narrowed her eyes at her mother. "I was so excited to tell you."

"Oh, shush and go on before I make you take Kazika with you," Naomi went back to preening. "Unless you'd like to babysit for me this evening?"

Arashi snatched up the basket and scurried away. The last thing she wanted to do was drag her little brother through the Uchiha compound and have to explain why everyone looked so inexplicably angry the whole time. She had other things to focus on.

* * *

There was something cold about the compound.

The weather was lovely, but that did nothing to ease the chill that settled into her spirit as she walked. Her senses told her something was wrong, but outwardly everything seemed fine. The clan members watched her as she passed by, but none of them offered a friendly greeting.

_I've known these people since I was six and they're treating me like a stranger?_

It left a bad feeling in her stomach.

She felt like she was somehow no longer in Konoha. the architecture was the same, the surroundings were the same, but the soul of that placed was different. There was no cheer anywhere that she looked, even though everyone went about their day like a common citizen. The banter and interactions reminded her of actors on a stage - no matter how well their dialogue was written and how familiar they were with their roles, she felt like a member of an audience waiting for something to happen.

_What is going on here?_

Arashi looked down at her feet and tightened her grip on the basket's handle. There was something inherently wrong about how dark it was in a place that souls of fire dwelled.

She chewed on her lip, anxiously.

_It hasn't always been like this._

She closed her eyes and scanned through all of the signatures around her. Itachi, Sasuke, and Mikoto were not among the ones in the area. She assumed they were out and busy with other things. A part of her was relieved that her friend was not around. She still had not figured out how she was going to approach her newfound feelings for him and trying to ignore them was proving to be ineffective.

She shook her head in an attempt to shake her thoughts away. To her surprise, Fugaku's signature was present. He worked all the time like her father, typically.

_I guess he's taking an early evening off today?_

She had not had a direct conversation with the man since his warning about Naruto. The lack of contact between them was not strange. He was never the type to converse with her casually, so that detail did not bother her. She was more nervous about interacting with him alone. There was something about his eyes that pierced when they focused on her.

_Drop the basket off and leave. You've faced worse than an epic stink eye._

Arashi's lips thinned into a line. The man had never cared much for her friendship with his son. He was always focused on turning Itachi into the next clan leader, honing him into a ruthless killer, and using him for the Uchiha's purposes despite the boy's gentle spirit. The fact that she was his only friend outside the clan had not evaded her notice. As a child she was flattered and it made her feel special, but now it struck her as a systematic distancing.

_Well, the Hyuuga aren't much better. They keep to themselves, too._

Some of the noble clans were elitists. There was no arguing against that.

Ultimately, Arashi knew Uchiha Fugaku did not consider her to be good enough to take up any of his son's time.

_I wonder how different his opinion of me would be if I was looking at the world through a pair of Sharingan._

She tried to not let the thought make her bitter.

_When did the fact that I don't wear a fan on my back make these people forget the years they welcomed me and grinned as I played with Itachi?_

She shook the thoughts away. They left a bad taste in her mouth.

* * *

"Fugaku-san?" Arashi called out.

A few moments passed and she was greeted by the man, "Oh? Are you looking for Itachi?"

"No, actually, I was here to drop this off," She lifted the basket to show him. "From Mom for Mikoto."

He raised an eyebrow, glanced at the contents and slid it out of her grasp.

She smiled awkwardly and took a step back toward the door, "I guess I'll be going now."

"If you have a little time, I'd like to have a talk with you."

Arashi blinked, "Eh?"

His lips quirked in amusement, "Come in. I was about to make something to eat."

"Erm, okay?" She followed him inside. _What does he have to say now?_

Fugaku placed the basket down and led her into the kitchen. He motioned for her to take a seat and then began preparing food. Arashi shifted uncomfortably and waited.

"I'm not a good cook," the man admitted, casually. "My wife is much better, but she's out right now, so I'll try to throw something together for us."

_Us?_ She picked at the end of her scarf, "You really don't need to."

"Well, you're my guest right now," he replied. "It won't be much and it should be edible."

There was something about his tone that made her sit up straight. He was trying to behave casually, but he was putting off an undeniably diplomatic vibe. She was impressed. She had never seen someone be so businesslike while preparing Edamame.

_This is, uh, new?_

"Mikoto and I watched your match."

Her stomach twisted. She wanted to forget that she ever met Satoshi.

"I thought you'd be busy with work," she tried to divert the conversation. "I'm sure the Police Force had their hands full. ANBU was busy from what I could tell."

"My patrol conveniently included the arena for the first few matches," he continued. "You did well."

"Thank you." She stared at the fan on his back, suspiciously. _I should have just left the basket by the door and left. This man has _never_ given me a compliment before. Not really, anyway._

"My clan does not often produce medical shinobi and although the Police Force operates inside Konoha, we like to have medics on duty with us."

"That makes sense."

The conversation faded away. When fugaku was done cooking, he divided the food between himself and the kunoichi and took a seat across from her. She took a bite to be polite.

"Were you promoted?"

She nodded, "I was. Found out earlier today."

"I thought you would be." He commented. "What do you intend to do from here?"

"Well, I need to get used to being a Chuunin. I expect there will be a little bit of adjustment. Genin don't really have many responsibilities, so the transition will be the first thing I'll worry about. After that, though?" She pursed her lips. "I have a personal project I've been working on and I'd like to continue my medical education. Wherever that takes me is where I'll go, I guess."

"Hmm. I see. I have a proposition."

"A proposition?" She repeated. "What kind?"

"Continue to commit yourself and maybe in several years you will be a Jounin. Once you get there, I'll have a position on the Force ready for you."

She blinked, "What? Did I hear you right just then?"

His lips quirked in amusement again, "I thought it could be mutually beneficial. Medical shinobi are harder to come by and you're familiar with my clan. I'm sure you've noticed that there are many that are _put off_ when dealing with those who possess a kekkei genkai."

"Yeah," she felt blindsided by the offer. "This is just a lot to take in."

"Also, Itachi will not always be involved with ANBU. I expect him to someday take a position under me and then eventually replace me. I figured that maybe you would like to work with him in the future. You've been persistent in your friendship with him."

Arashi took another bite of food and crinkled the corners of her eyes at him like the idea charmed her. If it was offered to her by anyone else, it would have, but she felt like there had to be a motive behind his proposition. The Police Force was comprised of _elite_ shinobi and most of the members were Uchiha. It was seldom that anyone outside the clan was even considered. She doubted she would ever be of the caliber to earn her keep.

_And why did he bring up Itachi as a bargaining chip?_ She resisted the urge to chew on her lip. _What exactly does he want with me?_

She tried to push the feeling away. This was a good opportunity.

_I'm probably just being paranoid._

"What do you say? You'll get to work with my son and use your skills to help a good cause." Fugaku pressed. "You don't have to worry about it today or any time soon, but I'd like you to think on it."

"When I become a Jounin?" She was proud that her voice did not waiver. "If you'll have me on the Force, I'd gladly join."

"That's a good girl." Fugaku smiled.

Arashi finished the snack and excused herself politely.

She wanted the future that the man painted for her.

_All of these years and I've never once walked on the same path that Itachi has. Maybe with this I can finally achieve that?_

Certain aspects of their conversation stuck out to her and polluted the hope he gave her.

_People being put off by the Uchiha? Sure. I think basically everyone's noticed it. They're bitter that the Uchiha didn't fight the Kyuubi off, but if Fugaku wasn't around then I would've been trampled._

The main thing that bothered her was that she felt like a fish eyeing bait. If she took a bite, then the hook would catch her.

Uchiha Fugaku always had his clan at the forefront of his mind.

She was certain that he was more concerned about using her to aid the Uchiha and not just the Force.

_What better cause is there in his eyes?_

She frowned and looked around at the compound one last time. If joining the Police Force would help lessen even a fraction of the segregation and division between the Uchiha and Konoha, she would do it regardless of the hook she knew was hidden. She wanted to feel warmth in that place once again.

If Itachi was the bridge from the Uchiha clan to Konoha, she wanted to be the bridge from Konoha to the Uchiha.

* * *

_This... is so wrong._

The sight that greeted Arashi when she made it home was one she would never forget. Naomi was drunk. The nobleman was drunk. The two inebriated adults were howling with laughter while the Kiri Jounin, Sen, was trying to entertain himself by cleaning one of his katanas. She was not sure what she missed that was so funny, but her mother was on the floor and the not-so-refined noble was on his hands and knees.

Arashi squinted into the room at them.

"Hey, Sis?" Kazika whispered from behind her.

She looked down at him and whispered back, "What?"

"Isn't Sen cool?"

She gave her brother a flat look and returned her attention to the scene in front of them.

_Little boys and their hero worship..._

"Oh! Arasshhhi! Meet my friend!" Noami slurred from the floor. "Masumo-_samaa_~"

The girl pursed her lips and stepped into the room. She bowed politely to the intoxicated man. He continued laughing at the floor and failing to stand up.

Sen looked up from his blade and grimaced, "Masumo_-sama_, maybe you should acknowledge Naomi-san's daughter?"

The nobleman tried to compose himself, "Sho, you're Arasshhi? Ahh, you're sshuch a cute little kunoichi!"

Arashi's lips thinned into a line.

Masumo was no civilian of any sort. His signature was disciplined like that of a shinobi, he had the chakra reserves of at least a Jounin, and an affinity of water. The man in front of her was a ninja.

_Dammit Mom._ Her heart lurched in her chest. _You've went and made friends with spies, haven't you?_

Arashi forced a friendly smile. She could not think of any other reason for a shinobi to be impersonating a nobleman - unless a specific noble sent a ninja in his stead in order to have an alibi - but it was more likely that Kirigakure was sizing up Konoha.

Masumo looked over at Naomi, "Oh, I have another shtory to tell you! You jusht won't believe what my wife's been up to..."

Arashi turned to Sen, "How long will you and Masumo-sama be in Konoha?"

"We're leaving in the morning."

She nodded.

Sen had a large chakra pool. Out of the two Kiri shinobi, she had the distinct feeling he was the most dangerous out of the two. His natural affinity appeared to be lightning and traces of his chakra were present in his weapon. From his appearance she guessed he was about twenty.

_I need to report this, but.. really, what am I supposed to say? They're leaving in the morning and if I act suspicious then it might cause a confrontation.. where these two Jounin could easily kill me._

The swordsman looked like he wanted to be anywhere in the world but there.

_Well, he looks fed up._

She tilted her head toward him, "Well, if you need anything, let me know."

"Will do."

Kazika edged into the room and shot a toothy grin at his new hero. Arashi intercepted her brother before he could make it to the Jounin. He glared up at her and started to step around her, but she grabbed him and pushed him out of the room.

"Kazika, leave the adults alone right now, okay?"

The last thing she wanted was her brother hanging out with a dangerous shinobi from a different country. She had learned the hard way what _friendship_ meant between ninjas and she wanted to shield the boy from that harsh reality for as long as she could.

"But, Sis-"

"No, Kazika." She looked over her shoulder at the irritated Jounin again, "Look, he's being a respectable bodyguard. Let him do his job in peace, alright?"

He pouted and looked away from her.

"Go to your room. If you do, I promise I'll show you something really cool tomorrow," she whispered.

"Like what?" The boy's curiosity was piqued.

"I'll let you ride on Sukai."

The boy's eyes lit up and he ran upstairs to his room without anymore objections.

_Alright. Now that he's up there, I need to make sure Mom doesn't do anything else ridiculous._

Sen stood, sheathed his katana and joined Arashi in the hallway. His presence in her home made her very uncomfortable.

"Look, I'd like to apologize for my _employer's_ actions and his current prone position on the floor," he spoke with barely held in check irritation, "I don't think there's a damn thought in his head beyond gossip and sake. Never mind the way he makes our country look like a bunch of morons."

Arashi shook her head, "You don't have to apologize. You're not the one drunk."

"I'd probably be in a better mood if I was." Sen looked her over and snorted, "You somehow look even smaller up close."

"Eh?" She looked down at herself. "I think I'm about normal."

"You have one hell of a chakra reserve for your age. I didn't expect a little medic kunoichi to be involved in a fun fight. Medics usually get the short end of the stick in tournaments like those. Good job, girl. You might make a decent shinobi some day." Her looked around. "Now where's a toilet?"

She pointed, "Over there."

Just as everyone said, the Chuunin Exams had far reaching results. Even other Lands would talk about the matches, at least for a little while. Even with the doubts that remained from her brush in with Satoshi, Arashi's career was more promising now than ever.

_I don't even know what to think of this day. Just make it until they leave and then go from there._

If she survived the night, anyway.

* * *

That's it for chapter 20! I felt kinda weird about promoting so many of them at once, but hey. Why not? Anyhoo! Which path do you think Arashi will end up taking? Focus primarily on being a medic - shoot for a spot with ANBU - or will she place all of her hope into landing herself in the Police Force? Which do you think would suit her the best?

Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and favorites this fanfiction. If you have any suggestions or criticisms - feel free to share them in a review! Feedback is lovely. Remember to check out tumblr. I'm open to writing prompts. xD

Once May is gone, I should be back to updating like a fiend. Sighhh.

* * *

**True Guardian Angel**: Oh, Kakashi is bae. My favorite character without a doubt and trust me.. he'll be present in part 3 quiiite a bit. He becomes Naruto's sensei, after all, and where Naruto is there's gonna be Arashi fussing nearby. :P Thank for the review and I hope you enjoy this late update!

**TheRealPein:** I'm glad that you enjoyed each of the fights. I have a hard time writing them and I worry about them being boring or confusing. It feels kinda odd to have Satoshi dead and for their team to be bonding, but it's also somewhat pleasant. Daisuke will always be too sassy, though.

And Kakashi? I can't wait to write more of him.

Thanks for the review! :)

**Guest**: Once again, another great review! I'm glad that you thought so highly of the last chapter. I spent a lot of time plotting out each of their fights and it was a beast of a thing to write. It makes me worry about this one, though! haha xD I'm going to miss the Chuunin Exams and Satoshi. Now Arashi has to figure out how to be a Chuunin and where she really wants to go with her life. Hopefully the content of the next few chapters won't be boring - but I worry that every chapter is boring. Sigh. I apologize that this one took some time to get out, but life has been demanding. Shew. Thanks, once again! :)


	21. Hide and Seek

**Chapter 21: Hide and Seek**

And here's chapter 21. Sorry about how little I've gotten to update, but life has been busy. This chapter is a bit fluffy for my taste, but oh well. :) Next chapter will have Arashi's first mission as a Chuunin leading a group on a C ranked mission. Learning experiences aren't always fun.

Thanks to everyone who reads, follows, favorites, and reviews! You're all lovely. :)

Oh yes, and I mentioned that I made a tumblr on a whim. I will be adding drabbles and oneshots to it, so if anyone's interested in drabbles that won't make it into the main fanfiction, head over there and check it out.

* * *

**Chapter Summary:** Adolescence brings many changes and Arashi could live the rest of her life without ramen and be happy for it.

* * *

**Song:** Bats for Lashes - Siren Song

* * *

**Chapter 21: Hide and Seek**

Arashi signed to Itachi _~Coming our way.~_

_~How far?~_ He signed back.

_~Ten meters. Closing in.~_

The shinobi stood with their backs against two trees as they evaded their target. The air was perfumed with pollen from the forest and the only sounds that could be heard was the soft shuffling of the leaves in the wind and footsteps as someone drew near. No birds sang and nothing stirred. It was almost eerie, as if they could sense the tension thickening in the air.

_~Fall back?~_ She asked.

_~Wait.~_ He replied.

Arashi chewed on her lips. The signature was drawing closer, albeit slowly. It was clear that he was not sure where the two Konoha shinobi were. If they fell back now, then it would buy them more time.

_He'd probably get lost, too. _The kunoichi mentally grumbled.

"Brother? Arashi?" Sasuke called out - no more than ten feet from her position. "You'd better not be cheating with jutsu!"

Arashi was involved in a heated match of Hide and Seek.

_Oh, sweetie.. You're telling ninjas not to cheat._

Itachi and Arashi exchanged a look.

The kunoichi picked up a rock and threw it away from their location. It protested with a dull thud when it hit a tree.

The boy's eyes widened and he pivoted around, "There!"

Sasuke raced toward the sound.

Arashi watched the boy's back until he disappeared behind several more trees. Once she was sure their position was secure, she looked over to Itachi. His eyebrow was arched just a fraction.

She shrugged, innocently.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward in amusement.

_Any moment now, he should figure it out._

Sasuke's signature stopped and started on its way back to their location.

_He knows we're in this area. He's a smart kid._

_~Coming back. Knows we're here, but not exactly where.~_ She signed to Itachi.

The Uchiha nodded and signed back, _Follow my lead._

He created a clone and she followed suit. His jumped into the trees and her clone followed after it.

_~What is your plan?~_ She tilted her head to one side.

He motioned for her to wait. She nodded.

Their silent conversation was the most they had spoken since before her match with Satoshi.

Originally, when she went to the Uchiha compound, she planned on stealing Itachi if he was free that evening so that they could go to a cafe to catch up. It had been about a week since the Chuunin Selection Exam ended and all of the foreigners were gone. She hoped to spend some time with him since ANBU was no longer as busy.

Sasuke had his own plans for what his brother was going to do that evening and thus she found herself pulled into the affair.

_Not sure how much fun he's having, though._

She peeked around the tree and watched him look around. For an Academy student he was doing well masking his presence. He controlled his breathing, made sure he stepped lightly, and she could almost feel how hard he was straining to hear something to give away their location. Only the occasional frustrated mumble slipped through his lips and then he would return to being as quiet as possible.

_Naruto would probably sound like an elephant stampeding through here right now.._

Sasuke's signature flared with annoyance. He knew they were around, but no matter how many trees he looked behind he never found them.

One of their clones cleared its throat and caught the boy's attention. This time he did not sprint toward the sound. He looked around once more and then slid behind a tree to conceal himself.

_Oh?_

Sasuke waited another moment and then hid behind another tree, closer to their clones.

_Taking his time and trying to sneak up on us? Good idea._

Several minutes passed before Sasuke managed to plant himself a mere few feet from the clones. Arashi watched, intently.

_Okay, what now, Itachi?_ She wondered.

Her friend's clone exposed himself - just for a second - and Sasuke pounced. He latched onto his older brother like his life depended on it.

"Found you!"

_Poof!_

Sasuke was left coughing in a cloud of smoke.

A snicker tore itself from her, but before it could turn into a full blown laugh Itachi covered her mouth and pulled them behind a different tree.

Sasuke looked toward their real location. Her moment of weakness gave them away. The boy was about to investigate, but Arashi's clone giggled and drew him in the wrong direction.

_That was close._

Itachi held her against him and watched as his brother faded from sight in pursuit of their decoy. In all of the years Arashi knew him, she had never been uncomfortable with his presence until now. Everyone that knew her knew she was a 'hug first, ask their name later' type of kid and that lack of concern for personal space carried over into her preteens then to now. Itachi never even blinked when she would throw her arms around him to give him a quick squeeze. They shared food together, she told him every silly thing that came to her mind while he listened patiently, and he had seen her at her worst. They watched each other grow up to this point with nothing less than unquestionable mutual friendship.

Without a doubt in her mind she knew that he knew her better than anyone else - and for some reason he still put up with her.

It was that understanding that made her not-so-platonic feelings toward him painful. He had the makings to be one of Konoha's uttermost best. She felt overwhelmed with the newness of just being a Chuunin. He was going to one day be the head of a clan of elite ninja. She would consider herself lucky if she managed to earn Fugaku's proposed position on the Police Force. There was nothing he touched that he was not good at, whereas she was good only in support niches. He was destined for greatness and she was almost certain she would be forgotten.

In the face of all of that, she could not understand why she was worried about whether or not he thought she looked pretty in purple or if he liked the scent of the body wash she used. Thoughts like those were pointless, but they continued to bombard her.

A part of her resented it.

She wanted to be comfortable and assured of her position in his life. She wanted to feel at home in her skin once again. She wanted to feel at ease in his presence instead of being plagued by self doubt.

No matter how much she tried to wish for it to go back to how it was before, she knew it would never be the same again.

The sensation of his signature pressed against her back and his arm wrapped around her waist made chills run up her spine. She wished she could become a part of that warmth, even if she would only amount to a spark and nothing more.

She tried to push those thoughts from her mind.

Awkwardly, she pulled away from Itachi, "Sasuke's signature is pretty far off now."

Itachi nodded.

Arashi sat down and leaned against the tree behind them. Itachi joined her. Everything was quiet once again.

It should have been a companionable silence, but she felt tense. She hoped he could not tell that she was a little _off_ around him. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then looked away.

_He's been even more distant, himself._

"How do you perceive chakra?" Itachi asked in a soft whisper.

"How do I perceive chakra? You mean, how do I sense people?"

"Yes."

"Well, everyone feels like a um, hmm," she thought for a moment, "It's like sensations and currents. Every signature is different and they all flow in their own way. If I concentrate and really focus on specific ones, then I can tell a lot more about them - I mean, depending on distance, too. When I was little, everyone felt basically the same - like lights or flames - unless I was close to them or knew them really well. Since Ibiki Sensei started making me work at tracking people with it, the things I can tell started becoming more, uhm," she tried to think of an appropriate word, "_Refined_? Like, I can tell if someone has a natural affinity and which Land they're from. Quantity of chakra, too, but all of this stuff can be overwhelming. Sometimes it's like an overload."

"Hmm."

"During the Chuunin Exams, when I walked into the room with all those shinobi from other Lands? Yeah, that was overwhelming, and," she trailed off and picked at the end of her scarf, "A lot to take in."

She had never explained what it was like to him. He never asked.

_Is he trying to break the tension or am I just talking too much like usual?_

Arashi was not sure how to read the situation. It was around the time that he discovered her scar that things changed. She apologized about keeping it a secret, but the words felt flimsy to her.

"Thank you, by the way, for noticing and thank you for understanding." She swallowed over the lump in her throat before she continued, "I didn't mean to push you away. I honestly don't know what I would do without your friendship," she wanted everything to be right between them, "I talk too much, don't I?"

"I don't mind listening to you," Itachi pinched her nose, "And there's no need to apologize. I feel it's my responsibility to look out for your best interests, but we all keep our own secrets and fight our own battles at some point."

She blinked and regarded him. He was growing up and gradually leaving boyhood behind. She could still see the gentle creature he was when they first met when she looked at him, but there was much more to him than that. Perhaps he had never quite been _just_ a boy.

At a loss for words, she changed the subject, "What's up with you and my nose, anyway?"

His lips quirked again and he looked away.

"What? Are you seriously not going to tell me?" She squinted at him, _I'm supposed to be the coy one._

Several moments passed and he still did not respond.

"Well," Arashi huffed, "You could tell me if you just think my face looks weird or if my eyes cross to look at your hand went you flick my nose or grab it."

His signature flared.

"Funny, huh? Your signature always gives you away when you find something about me amusing." She looked away and muttered, "Probably the only reason you're still friends with me is because you like to laugh at my existence."

He snorted and shook his head.

"I'm a mess of a person. I get it."

She was not sure why she was trying to guilt trip him. It never worked. When he decided he was not going to address something, he simply did not talk about it. The attempt was still fun, though.

Sasuke's signature started on its way toward them.

"You're both cheaters!" the boy yelled.

_I don't know if I should feel guilty that no one told him I'm a sensor type or laugh at his expense._

She signed to Itachi, _~Split up?~_

He nodded.

She turned to jump away, but he caught her arm and tapped her nose once more.

Arashi's eyebrows shot up, but before she could question him any farther he disappeared with a shunshin no jutsu.

_Is he.. what? I'm so confused right now._

"I'm not having fun anymore!" Sasuke whined.

Arashi touched her nose and tried to gather her thoughts.

_Well, um, anyway._ She pushed the confusion away, _That boy's about to have a fit._

She felt sorry for him and she needed a distraction from the confusing thoughts pressing on her mind, "Sasuke-kun!"

The boy's signature froze, "What?"

"I'll help you find your big brother. That sound alright?"

"This isn't some sort of trick, is it?" Sasuke called back. "Where are you, anyway?"

Arashi stepped out from behind the tree and closed the distance between them, "Itachi's really not fair to play games with, so I think we both need to look for him."

"You can look with me if you want," He looked up at her with his big, dark eyes and then away from her in embarrassment, "But I don't need your help."

"I'm sure you don't," she crossed her arms. "But I bet we'll make a good team."

He liked that response, "Okay. We'll act like this is a mission. Do you think we should split up?"

She hummed as she considered it, "Well, I'm just a medic ninja, so I think maybe we should stick together. You might have to look out for me if anything goes wrong. Medics are always at the most risk during a mission, you know."

His eyebrows knit together and then he nodded in understanding, "Okay. Follow me and don't get in the way."

Her cheek twitched, _Don't get in the way? Seriously, kid? No reason Naruto takes swings at you._

She brushed it off and followed behind him. If the boy was not as cute as he was, then she might have taken offense at his already over-developing ego. It was hard for her to be annoyed at something with giant eyes, spiky hair, and an attitude bigger than its body. Otherwise, she might have already punted Naruto down a street on some of his more trying days.

Arashi had a hunch the two boys were more alike than they would ever want to admit.

The kunoichi knew where Itachi was. He did not go far when they split up. It would be an easy task for her to point toward his location and send Sasuke scurrying after him, but she wanted the boy to believe that he was the one that found his brother. Not that he needed his pride stroked anymore.

_I'm betting he's the popular kid in class._

Another signature came into her range and her lips thinned into a line.

_Shisui?_

She had not seen Shisui in a while - not surprising since both he and Itachi were busy with their ANBU duties during the Chuunin Exams. He found Itachi's signature and stood near him.

_Is Itachi being summoned for a mission or something? Or are they just talking? He might need to cut this game short._ She frowned, "Sasuke-kun, did you hear that over there?" She pointed toward the two signatures.

"Yeah," the boy lied. "They have to be over there."

"Lead the way."

Sasuke quietly made his way over and paused to glance over at Arashi. Itachi and Shisui were on the other side of the tree, but she shrugged to feign ignorance. The young boy steadied his breathing and ran around it.

"Found you!"

Arashi joined the three boys.

There was something about Shisui that was grimmer than usual. He was always a little more carefree and playful than Itachi, but at that second he looked tired or perhaps worried.

She assumed it was related to a mission.

His expression shifted to a friendlier one when he saw her, "Oh? Arashi-chan? Been playing with Sasuke-kun?"

She nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt the game, but I need to borrow Itachi for a little bit."

"Yeah, I thought it might be something like that," Arashi replied.

Sasuke pouted. Intensely.

Itachi's eyebrows knitted together in sympathy, "Sorry, Sasuke. Another time?"

"I can play with you a little longer," Arashi offered.

The boy ignored her and continued to pout at his brother.

_Of course. That kid's all about his older brother. The only reason he agreed to play with me was because it was a way to play with Itachi._ She rolled her eyes. _Not that I'm jealous that I practically don't exist to the boy or anything._

Itachi glanced at her, "Later?"

"Of course," she smiled.

"But you said you'd play with me all evening, brother," Sasuke whined.

Itachi poked his forehead and the two older Uchiha shunshin no jutsu'd away.

_Well, that was abrupt._ She looked down at the boy, "Do you want me to walk you home or anything?"

He shook his head, "No. I'll just go train or something."

"Alright. Be safe, Sasuke-kun."

Arashi spun on her heel and started on her way back.

She had a lot to work on. If she stayed the way she was, then she would be left behind by her friend. Her first goal was to ultimately help people. Being able to mend wounds and save lives was her driving motivation and nothing would ever change that, but she could not ignore her other desires. She wanted to someday walk the same path as Itachi in order to watch his back and to be of some use.

If she could manage to become a Jounin and if Fugaku kept his word, then she could do just that - if Itachi chose to leave ANBU and join the Police Force in the future. She did not see a reason why he would not. Most people in ANBU either died or retired after a certain amount of years with the organization. She hoped Itachi was the retirement type.

She did not want to imagine her life without him in it.

_Becoming a Chuunin was hard enough, but a Jounin?_

She frowned.

_That will take me years, I'm sure of it. I'm not one of those people that can shoot through the ranks._

Whether she managed to join the Police Force or not, she knew she could still pursue her dreams of being an exceptional medical ninja. Her father would see to it that no matter what she would have a place at the hospital to fill if she wanted it. That was her original plan, after all.

She touched the scarf around her neck, thoughtfully.

Being this conflicted was a new experience for her. Life was much more complicated than she liked.

_Well, I'd better get to work at getting this Chuunin thing down so I can start working toward Jounin soon. Otherwise, I'll never earn that spot on the Force._

* * *

If Naruto was asked to explain how Arashi always knew where he was, then the boy would have answered with one of his theories. Since he first met the kunoichi, he started to notice how weird it was that he could never hide from her. She always found him - faster than any other person was able to find him.

He was convinced that her ability was beyond that of jutsu.

She had to be a sage or a wizard of some sort.

Therefore, it did not surprise him when she appeared behind him at random times. She had a knack for catching him in the middle of his pranks - which forced him to hone his skills even more. He had to strike fast and discretely when she was around.

This time, however, she was not the one who found him.

Arashi was engulfed in a book. Not a text book or a piece of literature that could be considered educational. The kunoichi was reading a novel that claimed to be romance but so far had shown itself to be what it really was - smut.

She was so invested in a particular scene that she subconsciously brushed off Naruto's signature. She was sitting on a roof, taking a break from researching fuinjutsu and medical ninjutsu. He was supposed to be in class.

"Neh, Sis, when are you taking me out for ramen like you promised, you know?"

Arashi squealed and hid the book behind her back.

The boy squinted at her, "What are you reading?"

_Oh no! Change the subject!_

"Nothing!" she replied. "Anyway, ramen?"

"Yeah. You told me you'd take me out for ramen, but you've been acting weird ever since you started ignoring me, you know."

She grimaced, "I didn't start ignoring you. I got promoted to being a Chuunin and it was very hard to earn that. Besides, you were supposed to be studying really hard, too."

"I have been! Y'know! Nonstop! Like all the time!" The boy proclaimed.

She slipped the book into her medical pouch, "What about all of the classes you've been skipping?"

He crossed his arms and threw his nose up, "Yeah, whatever! I don't like any of those people!"

"Not even Iruka-san?"

"No way! Y'know, all he does is yell at me!"

She sighed, "I dunno. He seems like a pretty nice guy, y'know? He probably just gets upset because he cares about how you do in class. You should give him a break."

The boy scrunched his face up, "Whatever."

Her lips thinned into a line at him, "Well, I did say I would take you out for ramen."

Naruto's face lit up and he forgot about his distaste of his classmates and instructor.

In truth, Arashi hated ramen. Despised. She acquired a taste that loathed ramen. The smell of Ichiraku's ramen made her stomach turn - all because that boy wanted to eat there all the time.

"But first, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Too excited to care, he leaned forward with bright eyes, "Yeah? Like what? It better be quick because I'm starving, y'know!"

"You know that old lady named Chiharo that you were messing with a few days ago?"

"That old hag and her stupid cats?"

"Yeah, I just so happen to know that old hag and her stupid cats," Arashi tried to sound stern. "If you want me to treat you to ramen, then you'll come with me to her home and apologize for upsetting her."

The boy's expression soured like he just caught a whiff of pure sewage.

* * *

Naruto was not happy at all.

Arashi walked by his side through the streets on their way to Chiharo's home. The boy refused to look at her. His face was still soured and he drug his feet with every step. It was like a tantrum without kicking and screaming.

_He's my little brat, I guess._

She tried to not get frustrated at him. No matter how much she tried to be around for him, she had things that always took most of her time. She had her own family, she had studies, her project, her friends, missions, and her career to tend to. Despite her intentions to be there for the boy, she knew he was alone most of the time.

He had no friends in class, he had obvious issues with authority figures because of the lack of one in his personal life, and when he went home he was alone. She could not fix that.

Still, when Naruto looked up to the Hokage Monument and his eyes fell on the face of the Fourth Hokage, she could see the aspiration in the pools of blue.

_His hero is his father and he doesn't even realize it._

She hated that it was kept a secret from him.

Arashi ruffled his blond hair and grabbed his hand in her own. He squinted up at her like he was embarrassed she was treating him like a kid, but after a moment he walked even closer to her and the grip of his small fingers around hers was firm.

"I'm not trying to be mean to you by making you apologize," she watched him from the corner of her eye.

"Then why?" he mumbled.

"Because if you're going to be my Hokage some day, I want you to be a good person." She explained. "You have to start living to a higher standard now if you want to be someone that can lead this village."

He looked down at his feet and nodded.

"I'd expect Kazika to apologize, too, because he's my brother. You're also like my brother, y'know."

He squeezed her hand and nodded again, "But, Sis, the hag's mean."

"I know she is," Arashi laughed, "But you're going to be better than that, aren't you? You can't just respond to someone's bad attitude with an equally bad attitude. That makes you as bad as that person."

"Neh, but, Sis, y'know that doesn't make sense to me."

"It will with time. Trust me."

"I just don't want people treating me like I'm a monster or something, y'know."

She sighed, "People are really stupid, but it won't always be so bad. Just hold in there and I know you'll eventually find people that see you for who you are. Like I do!"

Her encouragement coaxed a grin out of the boy, "Okay, Sis! Let's go talk to that hag so I can eat!"

_ughh.. ramen. I don't exist in Sasuke's world, Kazika is busy practically worshipping a foreign shinobi and swinging around a very dangerous tanto, and Naruto uses me for free ramen. I feel so special._

As soon as the two of them set foot on Chiharo's property, she appeared in front of her home with a broom in hand. Her eyes were narrowed as she sized the two of them up. She waited for them to explain themselves.

Naruto looked up at Arashi with pleading eyes.

"Well, here goes, Naruto-kun," she nudged him forward.

"I'm sorry, Ha-"

Arashi cleared her throat loudly.

"I'm sorry, _Chiharo-san_," Naruto ground out. "I won't mess with your cats or your fish anymore."

The old woman stared him down coldly, "You'd better not, boy, or I'll feed you to them next time."

Naruto squeaked, "Eh?!"

Arashi grabbed his shoulder and steered him away, "Alright, we'll keep that in mind!"

"You've got your work cut out for you if you're trying to keep him in line, girl!" Chiharo called after her.

She had been intimidated by that old woman since her first mission. Ibiki was not far off when he said that her mind was slipping in her advanced age. She hoped that seeing the crazy in the woman's eyes would spook Naruto into understanding he should not mess with people. He was small, young, people disliked him and there was no way he would be able to tell if he was making the wrong person mad.

If someone seriously hurt him, she knew she would end up in prison.

Once they were at the end of the street and safely away from Chiharo's home, Arashi released the breath she was holding.

"Neh, Sis! So, uh, y'know, since I apologized, can I have _two_ bowls of ramen?"

"Um, yeah, but you might end up making yourself fat on all those noodles."

He looked at her like he thought it was a brilliant idea.

"But, since you did the right thing, I guess I'll let you have an extra bowl. Just don't expect me to carry you around after you're done stuffing yourself."

"Does that mean you'll carry me there?"

"Do I look like a piggyback service to you?"

* * *

"Yeah! Ichiraku's!" Naruto cheered from Arashi's back.

_I can't believe I always give in. It's those eyes of his or something._

"Okay, we're here. Slid on off and order your food."

The blond jumped off her back and scrambled onto one of the stools. Arashi slid onto one beside him and looked at the menu. If she went the rest of her life and never ate ramen again, then she would be happy.

_If I didn't bribe him, I'm sure he would never eat vegetables. Well, besides the little bit in the ramen he's obsessed with._

"You're the best sister ever!" Naruto yelled in excitement.

"Naruto-kun, use your inside voice," She poked his ribs.

He squealed and squirmed away from her.

_Now to watch him eat his own weight in noodles._

Her thoughts drifted away. The next thing on her agenda was to step up to leading a group on a mission. Nothing serious, but she wanted to try her hand at a C ranked mission. It would be very different without her sensei, Akio, or Daisuke, but she was determined to advance. Without experience, she would never grow.

* * *

And that's it for chapter 21. Ahhh, fluff chapters. Oh well, had to catch up with Itachi and Naruto. It wouldn't be appropriate if Naruto stopped being a part of Arashi's life. Just as Naruto's life was about the bonds he struggled to form in canon, Arashi will end up following roughly the same kind of path. It's bonds with other people that bring the most happiness to one's life. Also, Naruto is cute and kinda fun to write.

Anyhoo, thank you to everyone who read this and I hope it was enjoyable. If you have any suggestions, criticisms, questions, or opinions - feel free to share them in a review. I love feedback and it serves as an excellent motivator. :D

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**534667lc**: :) Thanks for the review! Arashi was 13 (not far off from 14) when she became a Chuunin. She had roughly two years of training under Ibiki, so she wasn't quite a rookie when she was promoted. Fugaku's offer is quite generous. Too bad we all know what happens to the Uchiha clan. lol Not that Arashi has any clue what's coming. Anyhoo, thanks once again for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	22. Learn to Lead

**Chapter 22: Learn to Lead**

Ahhh, I apologize for how long it took me to complete this. I don't know why, but I struggled so badly with motivation on this one. Also, I went on vacation. I miss vacation. I need another vacation. haha As always, sorry if there are any typos that were overlooked and if this feels rushed or like filler.

I'd like to give a special thanks to Windschatten. You guys should go check out the Tale of Two Leaves if you like little girls trolling Kakashi and mysteries that need to be solved. :)

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Arashi touches bases, makes a promise to Naruto, and picks up the reins of taichou - in which she promptly figures out it isn't quite as easy as she hoped it would be. Arashi opens her mouth and her sensei's influence jumps out._

* * *

**Songs**: Honestly, I listened to so many things trying to motivate myself that I'm not going to mention all of them, but I did finish this chapter up listening to Tori Amos' cover of "Rattlesnakes"

* * *

**Chapter 22: Learn to Lead**

"I never thought it would happen."

"Hm?" Itachi placed his cup of tea on the table.

"I miss my Sensei," Arashi sighed, "And Akio and Daisuke."

He arched an eyebrow at her - his manner of prodding her to elaborate.

"When I first became a Genin, I was already thinking about the freedom of being in charge of myself as a Chuunin. I didn't realize I would get so attached to them."

"They are still your comrades, even if your paths are different now."

"I guess so," she looked into her empty cup.

A drink was all Itachi had time for that day. His duties had not slacked off as much as she hoped they would and it was beginning to show in his features. He seemed tired and even more laconic than usual. She was not sure if she was imagining it because of her own worries or if her perceptions were true. She did not want to come across as a mother hen.

She was more paranoid of how she acted around him than ever before.

So, she talked of other things instead of prodding him with concern, "I haven't seen Ibiki Sensei in a while. Do you think he would mind a visit?"

Itachi shrugged a shoulder.

"He's probably buried under paperwork or overseeing something for ANBU," she trailed off.

He glanced at a clock.

"I guess it's time for you to go, huh?"

"Yeah," he pushed his unfinished cup toward her and stood.

Arashi stood with him and touched his shoulder, "Take care of yourself, okay?"

He cupped her hand and gave it a friendly squeeze, "Another time?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

He poked her nose and walked away.

_Well,_ She looked down at the half full cup. _No reason to let it go to waste._

She took a seat again.

_I guess I'll ask Ibiki for some advice and then request a mission?_

Arashi was nervous about this new transition in her life, but she was determined to take it in stride.

After she finished the rest of Itachi's tea, she stopped by another restaurant to order food.

* * *

Arashi found her sensei in his office with Daisuke. They were deep in conversation until she knocked and was invited inside. The genjutsu specialist's amber eyes fell on the containers she carried in her arms and he smirked.

"Bringing me food, Shi-Shi-chan?"

_If I knew you were going to be here, sure..._ She shrugged, "I was actually going to check on Sensei to make sure he wasn't a wreck without us."

Ibiki gave her a flat look, "I've managed years before I knew any of you brats existed."

Daisuke sniffed, "I thought what we had a as team was special, Sensei."

"Finally Chuunin and you're both still following me around like you're lost," the interrogator retorted with a smirk.

Arashi placed the food on his desk and feigned a hurt expression, "You haven't missed us?"

"You haven't give me a chance," he shook his head.

The kunoichi ignored his comment and turned to Daisuke, "We'll share mine, if you want? I didn't know you'd be around or I would've brought extra."

Daisuke shrugged, "Why not?"

Ibiki rolled his eyes at them.

"So, why are you here?" She inquired after sitting next to the boy.

"Getting some tutelage."

She snorted, "You're turning into a disciple or something."

Daisuke's eyes lit up, "Ibiki-shishou!"

"_No._" Ibiki crossed his arms and looked away, uncomfortably. "Stop provoking each other or get out of my office."

_Pffft! He's embarrassed. Hah!_ She mock pouted, "Okay."

The man recovered and prodded at the food she brought for him, "What do you need, Arashi?"

"Oh? Well," she paused, "I'm going to request a mission that I can lead. I was just going to ask for some additional advice first."

She decided it would be lame to admit she missed them.

"Hmm, it looks like both Akio and Arashi are eager to lead," Ibiki commented and glanced at Daisuke.

The boy held up a thumb and mumbled over a mouthful of food, "Mmphfun."

Arashi eyed him. He was already over halfway through the small meal she brought along for herself.

"How do you do that? You're skinnier than I am and you eat twice as much. I kinda hate you right now."

The boy sniffed in disdain and handed the remains to her.

"Anyway," she shook her head, "Akio's already went on a mission?"

Ibiki nodded once, "He's determined to fulfill his aspirations and even though he's quiet and often fades into the background, he isn't content unless he's in motion."

All three of Ibiki's students had higher than normal aspirations.

"I'm sure Akio will do fine," Arashi mumbled. "I just don't know if anyone will take me seriously. I don't exactly look intimidating and I'm not the most useful in a fight. I don't want to be looked at like I'm dead weight."

"You don't have to be a force of destruction to be a good taichou," Ibiki replied, gruffly. "Remember the leadership skills we developed together as a squad and use them."

"Okay. What if they have issues with how inexperienced I am?"

"Everyone has to start somewhere. Most shinobi will understand that and make the learning process simple."

"And if they don't?"

The man smirked, "Show them you mean business and you're capable. Many Genin have been promoted to Chuunin at a younger age than you."

"I guess so," she replied.

"Funny time to turn timid," Daisuke muttered. "It would make more sense if you were less confident as a Genin. We already proved we're capable, Shi-Shi-chan. The exams are over. Try to remember that."

"I'm just nervous!" She hissed. "I'll get used to this. I know I can do this. Aren't you even a little anxious about leading missions?"

"Nah," Daisuke sniffed once again. "I plan on working with the Intelligence Division. I'd like to stay in Konoha as much as possible, instead of running around doing grunt work."

"Y'know, you're going to suck a bug up through your nose one of these times doing that sniffing thing."

He sneered.

"Anyway," she smiled at Ibiki, "I think I'll go request a mission now that I've talked to you. I just wanted to check up on you and sort my thoughts out a bit more."

"You know where to find me if you need me," Ibiki answered.

Arashi turned to Daisuke, "Also, after this mission I need you for an evening. Well, actually, you and Akio."

He blinked in confusion, "Why?"

She cleared her throat in embarrassment, "Well, I have something for the both of you, so if you see Akio let him know to hold off before he takes another mission or at least let him know I need to talk to him."

"What are you even talking about?"

"Geez, Daisuke," She crossed her arms and looked away. "My project. The Fuin Shugotenshi. I didn't create it for _me_. I made it for you guys for when I couldn't be around to stitch you back together."

His eyes widened and his mouth formed an O.

"So, uhm, let him know he needs to clear an evening after I get back from my mission and we can all meet up."

Arashi did not wait for his response. She was sure it would be catty and she was too embarrassed to think of a witty comeback. She exited the office, slammed the door behind her, and retreated.

She was not sure if she would ever be accustomed to being _friends_ with her old teammates.

* * *

The Third Hokage enjoyed watching the people of his village. When he was not too busy, he liked to walk the streets in order to observe the civilians. When he was confined to his office, he was guilty of using his tomegane no jutsu to break the monotony when paperwork became too tedious. Everyone had their own story and it was a fascination of his to see how much of it he could guess by a person's idiosyncrasies and interactions with others. It offered him insights into the lives of the people he watched after without requiring him to be too invasive.

It was common to see him busying himself with handing out even the most menial of missions to shinobi, as well. If someone needed to find him, most of the time their surest bet was to check the Mission Assignment Desk. He enjoyed seeing the faces of his military - it reinforced his image of them as people and not just as weapons - and he was insightful enough that it allowed him to get a feel of how well they were doing. He had learned over his many years that focusing on the darkness of their lives was the most dangerous pit a shinobi could fall into.

He smiled behind his folded hands when he saw a specific kunoichi enter the room. She looked almost frail and displaced in the wide-open space, but the light that flooded in through the windows that lined the room illuminated the determined line the girl's mouth was set in. She anxiously picked at the end of her scarf and hesitated on the far side as other shinobi received their missions. Like him, she examined each person from behind her glasses, but when her brown eyes fell on the banner on the front of the desk and she read the words '_Everybody, do your best,'_ she mustered enough courage to step forward.

He had watched Arashi grow from a young child, just as he had watched many other promising children take their first steps into the life of being a shinobi. Although the children with great potential had a tendency to stick out, he found that he remembered individual characteristics above talent. When he thought of this girl, he thought of the way she would pause as she felt a room's chakra presence out first before she settled and the many nights she fell asleep in a heap of scrolls and books in his library. He thought of the eager but horrified expression on her face when he first introduced himself to her class in the Academy.

She no longer threw mortified glances in his direction and the eagerness was replaced by a wary hesitation. The makeup on her face, though light, suited a civilian more than a shinobi. It was clear to him that she was in a rush to grow up and shed the innocence of her youth. The scarf tied around her throat may have been effective in hiding the reason of her insistence to cast away naiveté from most people, but he had seen Ibiki's report concerning his students in the Exams. Brutality was a hard truth in their profession and countless shinobi walked the same path she was on.

She was just another child being honed into a weapon.

His lips thinned into a line. He needed a smoke.

"Sandaime-sama," she inclined her head to him and tightened the grip on her scarf, "I would like a mission I could lead - nothing too intense or anything, but something to break me into my new rank."

"Is that so?" He fished a pipe out of his haori, "Hmm."

The missions were processed, organized, and monitored meticulously. The types of services requested never changed, so it was merely a matter of memorizing a new name before the mission was completed and then filed away. After a moment, he shuffled through a few scrolls and pulled out one in particular.

"I believe this client will suit you."

She eyed it and then looked to him for more direction.

"Her name is Ayane Sana. She's been visiting Konoha but is now prepared to travel back to her home on the coast of our southern border. Her health concerns have made locating an escort team for the convoy she will be traveling in," he paused for a second, "_difficult_."

"Is she in bad health?"

Hiruzen chuckled a little, "As a medic, I'm sure none of her concerns will be too much for you to handle. Sana will inform you of everything you'll need to know concerning her health when she meets you."

Arashi's eyebrows knit together, "What was so difficult about finding people to fill the team? It's just a C ranked mission."

He chose to humor her inquisitive nature, "Typically, missions of lower ranks like this are handed out with minimal thought involved, but she requested a medical shinobi. Most med nin are reserved for work inside the village or accompanying Jounin on more dangerous missions. Because of this, the normal set up of a squad to watch after her wellbeing and possessions against bandits was not enough to satisfy this client."

"Oh. That makes sense. The more experienced medical shinobi are too valuable to waste on a mission with so little economic gain for our village."

"Precisely."

"Okay, who will be in the team with me, when are we supposed to set out, and where can I find this Sana-san?"

"They're a few years older than you and they've been Chuunin for roughly about a year now. Their names are Yuto, Miyu, and Soshi. You'll have time to become well acquainted with them on the mission."

"Understood."

"Sana is staying in a hotel not far from here. It would be good if you touched bases with her. You'll need to explain that you'll be the taichou of the squad looking after her. She will want to leave in the next day or two, if I remember her requests correctly."

_Great, so Sana-san is sounding more and more like a handful the more he briefs me._

"Ah," Arashi shifted her weight, "Any advice for how to deal with her?"

She had a feeling it was a bad sign when the kage barked out a laugh and shifted his attention to the shinobi behind her.

* * *

Sometimes receiving a mission was like taking a walk through her past because of its location in the Academy. It made sense that the Hokage and the administrative figures of their village would operate there - keep the youth within reach, teach them, lead them, guide them, groom them, and ease them into their positions as soldiers in the military. When she was a student she had an entirely different view of everything around her. Despite the recent hardships she clawed her way through, she still had an immense amount of respect for the facility, the instructors, and the foundation of their way of life.

Which was, in part, why she stood quietly and watched Naruto paint an obscene image on the side of the building. The kid had guts if nothing else.

"Really, Naruto-kun? A penis?"

The boy shrieked in surprise and dropped the bucket of paint. A small portion of the content sloshed out onto the ground, but it was forgotten as the boy pointed his finger up at the kunoichi's face.

"Don't do that! You'll give me a heart attack, y'know!"

She squinted down at him, "Shouldn't you be in class? How do you expect to-"

"What's up with you and lectures!" The boy cut her off. "You're just like the others, giving me big speeches about what's wrong with me and what I should do, but, y'know, I don't have to do any of what they tell me! It's not like they're my parents! They're no better than me and neither are you!"

Up to this point he had never taken that tone with her and she was not sure how to handle it.

Arashi knelt down to his level, "I never said I was better than you. I just want you to behave so people won't think less of you."

"I don't care what anybody thinks about me! They'll respect me when I'm the Hokage, y'know! If they respect that old geezer, they'll respect me way more!"

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. Now was not the time to try to explain to him that there was a lot more involved in being a kage than what he thought and that it was one of the highest goals he could have set for himself.

"Are you having a bad day? You could be learning something cool in class right now."

"It's lunch right now," he crossed his arms and turned away from her. "It's not like anyone will miss me, y'know!"

Her lips thinned into a line. She had a hunch one of the other kids hurt his feelings.

"Well, you know from my experience, if something bothers you it's better to not let the people that consistently try to hurt you know it. It's like giving them a weapon. You never let an enemy know your weaknesses."

He turned enough that he could set one large eye on her, "What should I do, sis?"

"You're a strong boy, Naruto-kun. They just don't know it yet. Don't let them tear you down, okay?" She ran her hand over his wild hair, "Do you understand?"

"I think so," he pouted.

She glanced over at the graffiti again, "Listen, Naruto, don't disrespect the Academy. This is where the foundation of our village starts, you know?"

He turned to face her fully and defiance welled up in his eyes, "Y'know, you're like, just - you're just too boring and chicken to do a prank like this!"

To say that Naruto was developing a deep-rooted issue with authority was an understatement. The boy that was once scared to say the wrong words in her presence in fear of scaring her away now looked like he was about to tell her to take a hike - consequences be damned. A part of her was proud of him, while the rest of her was in a chaotic disarray as to what she should do to fix it.

"You know what I think would be funny as a prank?"

The boy's interest was piqued.

"I figure a talk with Iruka-san after he sees what you've done here," she feigned indifference, "Well, I figure it would be easy to talk him into transferring you into ikebana classes with the girls while Sasuke gets to learn all the cool stuff."

She remembered all too well Daisuke attending a few of the classes and being better at flower arrangement than all of the girls. Not that she was still bitter about that.

Naruto shrieked, "Nu uh! You know, sis, that would be so lame of you, y'know!"

"Way funnier than the dick you painted on the wall!"

He scrunched his face up and turned away from her.

_Geez, I don't want him to resent me or anything.. Maybe I do lecture him too much.. the kid needs a friend, not a morality lesson right now, I guess._

"Hey, Naruto-kun," Arashi glanced around and inched closer to him, "If you graduate from the Academy, I'll help you do _one_ prank to celebrate, alright?"

His eyes flew open and he looked at her in awe like he could not believe what she just said.

"But, I mean, if Iruka-san finds this, he'll kill you first for sure."

The boy's mouth fell open.

* * *

It did not take long for Arashi to understand why the Third guffawed in her face when she asked how she should handle Ayane Sana.

"I outlived both of my husbands!"

The woman was elderly, extremely wealthy, and quite possibly the most trifling person she had ever met. She was a weathered relic of a woman that lived her whole life as a pampered housewife with nothing better to do than gossip and entertain herself with lavish shopping trips. It took Arashi a full hour to explain to the woman that she was the taichou and then arrange when they would be leaving Konoha.

The revelation that the headache teasing the corners of her consciousness would only worsen became apparent once they were a day's travel away from the village.

"That's unfortunate, Sana-san," Arashi replied.

"_Heh_?! Speak up, girl!"

Sana was also hard of hearing.

Arashi took in a breath and yelled, "_That's unfortunate, Sana-san_!"

Everything had to be shouted in order for her to hear it. That alone would not have been unbearable. In fact, everything about the mission was laid out well. Arashi's first meeting with the shinobi under her two days before they set out was uneventful. The convoy was sizable, but not too large to manage with a single squad. Out of the five ox-drawn carts, only one did not belong to Sana. A family of civilians traveled with them to return to the same town and Arashi found they were a reliable group of people that stayed to themselves and seemed willing to help if they could. The lead cart was being overseen by one of Sana's personal servants that accompanied her wherever she went. He was a soft spoken, middle aged man named Hachi.

The issue so far was Sana.

"My gout has been acting up." The woman squawked. "Ohhh, what should I do to ease this pain, girl?"

"You have som-"

"_Heh?!_"

Arashi raised her voice, "_You have some cherries and water right beside you. Changing your diet should help-_"

"The only diet I'm interested in is whatever goes well with my saki!" Sana cackled.

"Erm.. Sana-san."

"_Heh?!_"

"N-nothing."

Arashi turned her attention back to their surroundings.

The issue with Sana was that she insisted on having Arashi's attention all the time. The elderly woman was not happy unless the girl was attending to her every whim. It was so bad that she had hardly gotten a chance to speak to the others she was working with.

_I need to delegate some roles and distribute the workload between us or something. _

They were still in a well traveled area which acted something like a safe zone for travelers. The landscape around them did not lend itself to thieves or bandits. As of now, just keeping a watchful eye was all that was necessary.

_At least we haven't really _needed_ to apprehend anyone yet. I mean, if this woman would leave me alone for a few minutes, I could establish a few things with my team..._

Arashi turned her attention to the three shinobi that walked beside the carriage that Sana was perched in - Miyu, Soshi, and Yuto.

Miyu was a friendly enough girl. She carried herself like she was comfortable in her skin and well aware of her own abilities. Most would not have given her a second glance, but there was something clever about the kunoichi's eyes that demanded acknowledgment - a quality that was required in a female shinobi. A kunoichi had to be able to integrate herself into any social situation, be dangerous while appearing harmless, and know how to best incorporate herself into a team.

She was currently speaking to Yuto in hushed whispers and giggling at his responses.

_Wow, she's making some serious eyes at him right now._

"Ah, Miyu-san?" Would you care to stick with the civilians? You could blend in and keep an eye on some of Sana-san's possessions from over there."

"Understood, taichou."

A chill went up Arashi's spine, _I'm finally starting to feel like a Chuunin now._

She turned her attention to the tallest member of the team. Soshi was also the quietest member. He took everything in around him with a hint of amusement. From what she could tell, he was content following her lead and had even appeared more entertained than anything when they first met.

"Soshi-san?"

He perked up when she addressed him, "Yes, taichou?"

"I need you to-"

"_Heh?!_ Some of these things are all I have to remember my husbands by!"

_Yeah right. All the money they left you reminds you of them all the time, I'm sure.. _Arashi cringed and cleared her throat, "Anyway, sorry. Let me get my thoughts together again."

Soshi chuckled and whispered, "You're doing fine. Continue, taichou."

"Thanks," she glanced away from him for a second. "How fast are you?"

The teenager's eyebrow rose.

_Oh, geez, no - not that way! _She screamed internally at the innuendo, but pushed on, "I figured the quickest person in the group could cover the rear."

"Yuto is the fastest, but I'm more adept at long range combat. Do you think that would suffice?"

"Uh yeah, actually."

She was grateful for his attitude. It felt different working with anyone other than her old teammates. Team Ibiki was accustomed to each other, they all knew their roles in a mission, and which niche was best for them. The three older shinobi were well acquainted. Arashi could pick that up with just a glance and even though it should not have bothered her, it made her feel almost invasive with her presence.

It probably helped Arashi's performance in the past that she did not care what Akio or Daisuke thought. In a sense, it prevented her from having inhibitions.

"Leading is strange at first, but you'll do fine." Soshi assured her, "Missions like these typically take care of themselves."

He lifted his fist in a friendly gesture and watched her expectantly. Arashi responded by bumping her fist against his. It felt awkward, but the older teen smiled in approval.

"Thank you for your reassurances."

"Think nothing of it. I'll go take up my position now?"

"Yeah."

_He's definitely a 'peacekeeper' kind of person, I think._

She turned her attention to the final shinobi. Yuto was already watching her. His mouth was pressed into a thin line. When she first met him, she could not get much of an impression from him. Miyu was romantically interested in him, he bantered casually with people around him, and he had a bold edge to his words, but other than that she was not sure what to think.

_Did I interrupt something between him and Miyu?_

"Yuto-san?"

He inclined his head and increased his pace so that he could walk beside her, "You should put me near the front or the back of the convoy. I'm fast, so I can cover a lot of ground."

She blinked,_ Well, he's certainly more straightforward than the other two._

"Also, Miyu doesn't need to stay with the civilians all the time. I mean, yeah, once we're on sketchier routes, one of us should stay over there with them. Probably not her, though. She'd probably be able to help you with Sana and be more useful than over there playing with their kids-"

Arashi crossed her arms and squinted at him.

"Sorry. It's your first time doing this kind of thing, so I just wanted to offer some advice. I like things to go smoothly and I've been at this stuff longer than you have."

_It's like he wants to tell me what to do._

She had no problems with suggestions and communicating concerns, but there was something underlying his words that she did not like.

"I've been on a lot of missions like this," she replied. "You don't have to worry so much. My sensei was very particular about how we handled every mission. You'd think going to retrieve some groceries was as serious as going to the frontlines of a warzone or something."

Yuto laughed, "One of those guys, huh? ANBU roots when he was younger?"

"Pfft! He'll never retire. We're going to find Ibiki Sensei dead in his office in like fifty years."

His expression soured, "Ibiki? Morino Ibiki?"

"Yeah."

"I guess it makes sense that his team would pass the Selection Exams their first try. It would look bad on him if you guys didn't."

She did not like his tone.

"What do you mean by that? Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he failed my team about two years ago."

"Oh. He got you with a trick question, didn't he?"

Yuto looked at her like she just rubbed salt into an open wound, "Wait. Was he a proctor when you took the Exams?"

"Yes, he was. He actually set it up to take a jab at me near the end. Smirked at me when he knew I figured out what he did, too."

She wanted to laugh at the memory now, whereas when it happened she was furious.

"That sounds unethical. For all anyone else knows, he could've given your squad an unfair advantage."

Arashi's back stiffened. Ibiki might not have been the easiest Sensei to learn under, nor was he the most personable, but she owed more to him than she could express with words. A hot rage tingled up her spine and it took more than a little self control to keep herself from snapping at him.

"Actually," she forced her tone to stay calm, "We had no idea he was going to proctor the Exams. He kept it a secret from all of us and he kept it fair. He was meticulous with our training and we put our hearts into making it to this point."

"Whatever you say, Sensei's pet."

She bristled, "Excuse me?"

"Sheesh, don't get worked up so easily. You might smudge your eyeliner."

Arashi forced a smile, "You shouldn't tease your taichou. Get to the front of the convoy."

"Alright." Yuto glanced over at Sana, "You'd better hope she doesn't demand a sponge bath."

"_Heh?!_ Speak up!"

It only now occurred to Arashi that their client had been trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, but was failing. It was a relief to know that she missed out on their contention. Behavior like that was improper to display - especially in front of the clientele on a mission.

_Those silver linings._

Arashi bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Yuto walk away.

_I really hope he doesn't turn into a problem._

She tried to remind herself of the goals she was working toward, but a part of her felt that maybe Daisuke had the right idea.

"My hip's acting up, girl!"

Arashi groaned.

* * *

_I'm going to kill him._

Sana was no longer the problem.

It had been two days since Yuto learned of her connection to Ibiki and he had since proven himself to be a nuisance. If she asked him to do something he would do it - while telling her what she should have done. He lacked the unassuming and helpful attitude that Soshi possessed. It did not help that Miyu and the civilians looked to Yuto for direction when the least of things came up, either. It made her feel replaced or pushed out of the picture.

_I'm going to scrub his teeth with a brick if he calls me a Sensei's pet one more time._

Arashi tried to have a good sense of humor about it. Yuto's points were good and made sense. Sana kept her so busy that his insistence to pick up any loose slack _did_ help, but his attitude irked her.

The oxen in front of Sana's cart grunted at each other and the sound pulled Arashi away from her disapproving thoughts. It had been a few minutes since Sana complained about her hip, her lack of appetite, or her gout. The kunoichi peeked inside - the client was asleep - and breathed a sigh of relief. Since the beginning of the mission, Hachi had remained in the lead cart.

_I really don't blame him. If I was him, I'd dump this old woman on someone else and hide, too._

They had left the more traveled roads the day before. Most bandits would not attack a convoy being escorted by shinboi, unless they were desperate or too greedy for their own good. Four carts of the old woman's belongings - everything expensive - was a temptation, but she normally would not have expected any problems.

_Great._

Except that she could sense a cluster of ten signatures set up around the road about a kilometer away. She had hoped when she first sensed them kilometers beforehand that it was another convoy, but she was now fairly certain they were not an innocent group of people. They were no longer in a wooded area, but as they drew closer to the coast, they were seeing more gullies and cliff sides. There were more than enough places for criminals to hide themselves or set up in the area.

_Not shinobi. Probably thieves. _

There was a chance that the brigands would view raiding them as too much of a risk and stay in hiding until the next group of people came along. Then again, these people could also bet their lives against that risk in the name of profit.

_I don't like this. If we go out to them, then we're leaving our objective wide open if some of those guys scatter and we can't get them all at the same time. If we keep going this way, we'll be walking into an attack if they decide to not back down._

Arashi chewed on her lip.

_Soshi's a long distance fighter. He wouldn't do as well in close quarters. That leaves the other two. I don't want to send Miyu or Yuto in there to fight them. They could probably take them, but then again, that's leaving the front of the convoy and the civilians unprotected. _

"Oi, taichou," Yuto dropped back to her position. "I've been on a few missions through this area. This zone is where problems usually happen. Nothing serious, but bandits love setting up through here and taking advantage of travelers. I've got a feeling things are a bit too quiet right now and we need to be ready for something."

"That's what I'm trying to decide on right now," Arashi replied. "I think there's a group of ten waiting for us about a kilometer away right now."

Yuto looked at her like she was crazy, "And how do you know this?"

"Oh," blood rushed to her face - she never mentioned anything other than being a medic to them - and she blurted out, "I'm a sensor type."

"Fine time to mention that," he replied, dryly.

Her lips thinned into a line, "We could change course and completely avoid them-"

"And if they already know we're coming and they just redirect to flank us?" Yuto retorted.

"I'm just thinking of our different options." She replied. "And if we send any us after them, then that leaves openings, as well," she reiterated her thoughts. "I don't like the idea of walking into this, either. If they have bows or any other sort of projectile weapons, then they could do some serious damage to the client, the civilians, or the oxen."

"Yeah, walking the convoy through this is a _terrible_ idea," Yuto scoffed. "Our best bet is to send a couple people in and leave everyone here. Can you really tell how many people are waiting for us?"

"Yes," she replied, firmly. "Ten."

"Well, I'll go in with Soshi and we'll take care of them."

"No," Arashi stamped her foot. "Soshi-san will stay here and look after everything. He's long ranged so he can take people out as they're coming if they get away from us and head here."

"Yes, but I don't like the idea of Miyu in a fight-"

"_Why_? Look, these people aren't shinobi. They might have weapons, but they're not like us. Academy students could probably take them out, Yuto-san. The last time I checked, she isn't a medical nin. She can fight. She wouldn't have ever been promoted if she didn't prove herself."

"She _can_ fight, but she's not as proficient as Soshi. Soshi should be positioned between the convoy and the bandits, that way after I've initially attacked, the ones that run can be picked off faster."

Arashi clenched her fists and shook her head, "Soshi-san will stay here and the three of us will investigate and clear the bandits out if necessary."

"Aren't you a medical ninja? Isn't going into direct combat against your codes."

"I can take care of myself. Wherever my team goes, I go."

Yuto's jaw worked in irritation, but he nodded.

"Meet me at the front of the convoy, I'm going to fill Soshi-san in and fetch Miyu-san."

* * *

_No question about it. Bandits._

The road gradually sloped down and through the center of a gully. On each side of the gully were five men, concealed in shrubbery or in the natural crevices worn into the landscape by the rain. From what Arashi could tell, there was one man set aside from both groups as a type of lookout.

"Okay," she whispered, "Miyu-san, I need you to hang back here and take out anyone that makes a break toward our client."

"Alright."

"Yuto-san, we're going in. You take out the lookout on the right. I'll take out the one on the left."

"Gotcha."

Something about fighting someone who was not a shinobi felt wrong to Arashi. Perhaps it was because she knew that they stood no chance against a ninja or maybe it was because she hated the feeling of someone's signature flickering out, but the ordeal left a bad taste in her mouth.

She knew she could have used her position as a medical ninja as an excuse to stay out of combat, but she refused to make her team do something that she was not willing to do herself.

_Take out the lookout, move on._

Arashi walked quietly as she circled around the left side of the gully and made her way toward the men scattered through it in wait. Her first target was distracted watching the distance from a rock.

The kunoichi took in a deep breath, unsheathed a kunai and channeled her chakra into the blade. This needed to be quick and efficient.

She exhaled and threw the kunai.

The effect of wind elemental chakra was almost sickening when used as a weapon. The kunai shot through the man like he was rice paper and he crumbled to the ground.

It took a few seconds for her to refocus her thoughts and suppress the memories of Jiro and Satoshi. This was a mission. She was not killing just to kill. If these men were left alive, they would attack other people. These men were not innocent.

_One down, four to go._

She felt the lookout on the other side extinguish.

_Good, we're going at about the same pace._

Arashi focused chakra into her hand and formed a scalpel.

The next man she found was nestled under a bush. She covered his mouth and drove her scalpel into his body three times in quick succession - left lung - right lung - heart. It was over quickly.

Her stomach clenched, but she moved on.

_Three to go._

On Yuto's side she felt one and then another signature flicker out.

_He's ahead of me now._

Her next two targets were together, facing the road. Arashi kept her breathing even and her hands lit up with medical ninjutsu. She pressed her palms against the back of their heads.

They stiffened for a second before they fainted. There was something disconcerting about the dull thud of bodies hitting the ground, but she tried to not think of it.

She unsheathed a kunai and finished off one and then the other - but the second cried out as the blade entered his body.

_Crap._

Motion to her left caught her attention.

Her last target was running down the road, trying to escape - yelling the whole way.

_Crap! Crap! Crap!_

Yuto's final target stumbled down the side of the gully and ran behind him.

Arashi chased after them - joining Yuto on the road.

Even though the bandits had a head start, it did not take long for the two shinobi to apprehend and take them down, as well.

_Well, at least this is over with. Hopefully there won't be another run in like this._

Arashi wiped some dirt off her cheek and turned to make her way back toward the convoy. Yuto stepped in her way.

"I told you we should've brought Soshi," Yuto spat. "This would've been over faster with not as much running if you would've listened to me. What did your Sensei even teach you-"

Arashi punched him.

She had not meant to - she regretted the action as soon as her knuckles made contact with his mouth - but she could not back down now. Yuto looked at her in shock and before he could regain his composure, words flew out of her mouth.

"If you disrespect me like this again, I'll sever every joint in your body. Then," Arashi jabbed his chest with her finger for emphasis, "I'll watch you bleed until you can't breathe anymore."

"You've got to be jokin-"

"Shut up! I don't care if you're right in this situation! It's not a principle of right or wrong!"

They stood inches apart, glaring at each other.

"Any mistakes on this mission fall back on me. You will not steal this learning experience from me! You will not insult the hard work and devotion my Sensei put into training me!"

Miyu watched them, tensely.

Arashi lowered her voice, "If you keep trying to make me feel stupid just to feed that ego of yours, I promise I will do things to you that only the head of Torture and Interrogation could have taught me. Do you understand?"

He responded with a stiff nod.

"Good."

Arashi was beyond ready for this mission to be over.

She made her way back toward the convoy with Miyu on her heels and Yuto following behind them. Soshi threw a curious glance toward them, but chose to not ask any questions.

The rest of the mission was uneventful.

Yuto did not argue with her again, although he did send more than a few nasty looks in her direction. Miyu stayed with the civilians and did what was necessary. Soshi never asked what happened when they went to take care of the brigands - which Arashi was once again grateful for.

* * *

Well, that's the end of chapter 22. Sheww. I didn't mean for it to take this long, but things kept coming up, I've been busy, and motivation has been hard to find. Thank you to everyone for keeping up with this and being patient. I'd like to thank everyone who reviews, follows, and favorites, as well.

If anyone has any suggestions, opinions, criticisms, or any feedback at all - feel free to share it in a review. :)

* * *

**True Guardian Angel**: haha I enjoy writing Itachi's scenes. I apologize for this one taking a bit longer to come out and not having much interaction between Arashi and Itachi, but he's a busy boy and she stays pretty busy, too. I hope you enjoy it. :)

**Juliedoo**: Thank you! I enjoy writing Naruto and Sasuke as young kids. I really don't know how I'll have Arashi handle them when they're twelve and still at each other's throats, though.

The scenes with Itachi and Arashi sometimes make me sad. Danzo's prejudices caused a lot of problems for Konoha - and it was his influence that ultimately led to the Uchiha's demise. Not that Tobirama did not play a part, himself. Sheww.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

**Windschatten**: Writing children feels alien to me and I'm always paranoid I'm making them way too unbelievable! :) So that makes your compliment great to me. haha I hope I can keep surprising you and stay away from unnecessary drama. I feel that the canon has more than enough believable things for characters to overcome without having to add in much more, pointlessly.

Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	23. Time Changes

**Chapter 23: Time Changes**

Once again, I apologize for how long it took me to get this written. I was busy with work and all of that mundane stuff. Thank you to everyone who follows, favorites, and reviews! You're all lovely and I appreciate every bit of it. :) If anyone has any suggestions, criticisms, opinions, or anything they'd like to say - please feel free to share it in a review! I'm open to all kinds of feedback.

And again I would like to give a special thanks to Windschatten. Everyone should go check out The Tale of Two Leaves. :P I've spent more time checking for updates on it than writing my own fanfiction lately.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Arashi finishes her mission, meets up with her old teammates, realizes she's terrible at comforting people, and turns fourteen.

* * *

**Song**: Godblesscomputers - What We've Lost

* * *

**Chapter 23: Time Changes**

Leaving Sana in her home and walking away should have made Arashi feel a rush of success. Instead, she picked at the scarf around her neck in distraction.

She was not proud of losing her temper and hitting Yuto, nor did she care for the tense atmosphere that accompanied their group from that point on. Miyu intentionally kept her gaze on the ground and avoided eye contact with both Arashi and Yuto. Arashi got the distinct feeling that the other kunoichi was either uncomfortable or disappointed with what happened. Probably both.

Arashi's throat tightened and she felt weighed down when she thought of the whole ordeal. It reminded her a lot of when she was pulled away from her first fight by Kakashi. Had she done something wrong?

She knew her Sensei would not have stood for Yuto's behavior. He was adamant about following the structured, coded way of the shinobi.

_Sheesh, even Akio would have done worse than punch him in the mouth just once - and Daisuke would have told him to sit on a kunai and spin - or put him in one of those extra potent Kurama genjutsu that would make him believe he was doing it._

Beyond that, she was uncomfortable with the lives she had taken. The feeling was not as pronounced as it was when she killed Jiro, but that concerned her more than anything. Life was precious to her - even in a world dominated by violence. The sparks of life around her mattered to her, in spite of her choice of profession.

_They were criminals and they would have killed innocent people._ She told herself. _It was the most efficient decision. _

No matter how much she told herself that and how much she knew it was true, she could not shake one thought that made her chest tight.

_How much of myself am I going to lose?_

Soshi would occasionally look at everyone with an eyebrow quirked in curiosity, but he never openly asked what was wrong. From what Arashi could tell, no one had taken the time to fill him in.

"So," Soshi broke the silence once they were outside the town, "It shouldn't take us as long to get back. Those carts were pretty slow, huh?"

No one answered him and he sighed in defeat.

_We're still looking at days before we get back if we walk, even if we go as fast as we can._

She frowned.

_Yeah, I'm so not into the idea of this taking that long._

She bit her finger and formed several hand-seals.

Her eardrums popped from the sensation of the space-time ninjutsu pulling Sukai to her location. All three of the older Chuunin jumped back as the smoke dissipated to reveal the falcon. He looked all around to get his bearings before he lowered his face to Arashi's level in order to look her in the eye.

"What is it that you need, little Arashi?"

"Would you care to get us back to Konoha?" She asked.

He ruffled his feathers and looked at the other shinobi, "_Kak?_"

"We just finished a mission," she explained. "Is four too many for you to carry?"

He appeared to have more than enough space for them on his back.

"I can carry everyone," Sukai replied.

"Good," she ran her fingers through some of his feathers and turned to her team, "You hear that? Get on the falcon's back."

Soshi was the first to approach the bird. Light glinted off his hitai-ate and Sukai snatched it off his head - along with hair and some skin.

He grabbed his forehead and jumped back.

"Sukai!" Arashi screeched.

He ruffled his feathers and tilted his head to one side, incredulously.

The kunoichi jumped and snatched the hitai-ate away from the falcon, "Manners, Sukai! We've talked and talked about how you shouldn't snatch things off people just because they're _shiny_!"

The bird shuffled and lowered his head once again to her level, "Why did you not summon me for this mission, _kak?_"

"Oh, really," she huffed, "Don't change the subject. Look! He's bleeding!"

Soshi fidgeted, "Taichou, it's not that ba-"

Sukai shrieked in his face and turned back to Arashi, "You are still a fledgling."

Arashi took a deep breath and counted to ten, "We've talked about you shrieking to shut people up."

"It's effective."

"It's rude."

"_Kak kak kak!_"

She could feel the three older shinobi leering at her back.

Arashi placed her hand on his beak and pushed his face away from her, "So rude! You're embarrassing me!"

She turned and looked at her team, sheepishly. They stared back at her in varying degrees of disbelief and distrust.

_Great. First, I freak out and punch someone in the mouth for insulting my Sensei and now my summon made me look like an idiot. I can taste the lack of respect in the air._

She cleared her throat and handed the hitai-ate back to Soshi, "Sorry about that, Soshi-san."

He accepted it with his free hand.

_Figures that Sukai would injure the nicest person in the group..._

"And, uh, let me heal that really quick."

She tried to not meet anyone's eyes as she mended the flesh back together, wiped the blood from his face, and then turned back to her falcon.

The ride back to Konoha was more awkward than walking.

* * *

Arashi paced her report on the desk in front of the Third.

He exhaled a cloud of smoke, "Everything went well, I trust?"

"Um," Arashi resisted the urge to pick at her scarf, "We got Sana-san to her home without her being injured or anything stolen, so it was a success, but I had some problems with Yuto-san."

She did not want to go into detail. While she knew he was in the wrong, she knew she was also out of line with her reaction. The kunoichi was sure to mention everything in depth in the report in order to be thorough, but she hated even writing one word about it.

"He is still young. With some lessons in humility, I have hopes he will become a fine shinobi."

"S-So you knew he has attitude issues?"

The lines of his weathered face deepened when he smiled, "You wanted to test yourself and he needed humbled. I'm assuming a measure of both happened."

_I wanted an easy team... _She stared at him, "I feel betrayed."

"You cannot grow if you never push yourself."

"I suppose that's true."

The glint in his eyes let her know he found the situation much more amusing than she did.

* * *

**Fuin Shugotenshi**

If someone had told Arashi the day before she became a Genin that she would be hosting Daisuke and Akio in her home, she would have laughed. Looking back, she hardly recognized herself. Time had changed more than a few things in her life.

Akio was seated in the dining room. Various scrolls, ink, and other supplies were strewn across the table for her to use. The Aburame sat with his back rigid as he looked around the room from behind his sunglasses.

The house was larger than most homes in Konoha, except for the ones owned by the more wealthy and eccentric citizens. The first level was comprised of a foyer, living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and a bathroom. The second level had four bedrooms, even more bathrooms, and a study. The amount of space in the house was enough to contain a large family - which meant it was more than enough room for the family of four.

Daisuke opened the refrigerator and browsed through its contents, "What do you have stocked up in here? My mom always keeps stuff on hand and your mom comes off the same way."

"You really shouldn't eat before we do this."

The boy sniffed, "But I'm hungry, Shi-Shi-chan."

"The process is kinda painful and hard on the stomach," she explained.

He sneered, "So, it makes you throw up when you use it on yourself?"

"Well, no," she averted her eyes from him to the floor.

Akio interjected, "She doesn't want _you_ puking everywhere."

_There goes my attempt at being subtle. _She squinted at him. "Thanks for the clarification."

"I'll have you both know I'm doing better with that!" Daisuke hissed.

Akio snorted in amusement.

"Erm, yeah," Arashi tugged Daisuke away from the refrigerator, "If you'd sit still, I could maybe have this done pretty soon."

The amber eyed boy sat at the table across from Akio, "Fine. How does this even work, anyway?"

"Well, I've had enough time on my hands to prep several of the jutsu in scrolls. The tricky part will be weaving the fuinjutsu through your bodies and setting them correctly into place. It's a little more complicated than simply transferring the jutsu from the scroll to your skin."

He gave her a dubious look.

"It's safe." She insisted. "I've been testing it on myself for months."

"Just don't mess me up too bad, Shi-Shi-chan."

She gave him a nasty look, "I'm doing this for the both of you. At least try to make it easier on me."

"Alright, alright," he held his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, take your shirt off."

He stared at her, incredulously, "And this just got weird."

"Look, I have to mark certain places with the ink I've already prepared over there - just to make sure that I'm setting the jutsu right."

Daisuke sniffed and pulled his shirt off. Arashi set to marking key areas that she would have to weave the fuinjutsu through. The ink was imbued with traces of her chakra so that she could use them as guidance points. The boy stared at the ceiling - pretending he was anywhere but there - and remained still as she went from one arm, to his torso, his neck, his other arms, and then his legs. She was grateful that he wore shorts. Otherwise, it would have gotten even more awkward.

_I figured he would have been the ticklish type, but I guess not._

Being familiar with his chakra system made the process easier. Even though every person's pathways were generally the same, she had noticed there were small differences in each individual.

"So," Daisuke began, "I heard you punched someone in the teeth."

She paused, "Who told you that?"

"You'd be surprised by how much Ibiki-Sensei still checks up on all of us. Turns out it's pretty easy for him to get his hands on our missions reports and I get to hear about it since I've been working with him a lot." He explained.

"Oh."

She had not thought the Interrogator would go out of his way like that. In this particular instance she wished he had been too busy.

"So," Daisuke smirked, "What did the guy do to make you snap?"

She grimaced, "Well, it was a lot of stuff, but what really got me was when he insulted Sensei."

"What?" his amber eyes blinked in confusion, "Why?"

Akio leaned forward in his seat and his lips thinned into a hard line.

"Well, they failed the written exam under Ibiki-Sensei because of one of his trick questions. He wasn't too happy about that and sorta tried to take it out on me or something."

"Too bad those arms of yours can't hit really hard," Daisuke sniffed.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I think I do pretty well with taijutsu for a medical ninja."

"Of course you do," he agreed, too sweetly.

"I could mess you up so bad right now. Don't tempt me."

He sniffed.

Arashi finished up with the marks and snatched up a scroll. She closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind. She tuned everything out and focused only on Daisuke and his signature. Her forehead creased in concentration as she delved into his chakra for as much detail as she could find. The impressions, sensations, currents, and webs of light that lit up in her mind were more intense and clear when she did this. It was just another feat she owed to Ibiki's insistence to hone and refine her sensory skills.

After she felt she was mentally ready, she began pulling the jutsu from the paper and channeling it into Daisuke's arm. Little by little, she guided it with her chakra - using her marks and Daisuke's pathways as a map - weaving it through his muscular and skeletal systems. It was a tedious and meticulous process.

The chakra and vascular systems of the body mimicked each other somewhat in design. While her medical training had focused somewhat on them, she found much more knowledge about it and the tenketsu in documents compiled from the Hyuga clan. Their Gentle Fist fighting style showed how closely the two systems were tied together. While aiming for the tenketsu, they also damaged the surrounding organs, arteries, and tissue.

It was because of that knowledge that Arashi pushed herself to study the relationship between the two and more importantly how she could manipulate a jutsu to use the chakra pathways to better pinpoint injuries and treat them.

A lot of the research for the Fuin Shugotenshi involved studying in that area. Most people were born without any real sensory skills and those that were often could not perceive that amount of detail. Fuinjutsu could do almost limitless things if one knew how to manipulate the justu and its different formulas.

_I wonder if it could go both ways.. Chakra is the culmination of both the physical aspect of the body and the spiritual aspect of our souls. Seals can inhibit chakra flow or even close the gates - and in retrospect, some people can even learn to unlock the Gates through physical training. Could I design a fuinjutsu that stimulates the chakra system?_

Once all of the jutsu was in his slight frame and in place, she took another deep breath. It was time to seal it into his body.

"Uh, you're looking at me like I'm a lab rat or something and I don't like it," Daisuke muttered.

Arashi cleared her throat, "Sorry. Just a stray thought. I mean, it's almost funny how you manage to function with so little chakra."

"Whatever!" he hissed. "Just get it done. All of this feels really weird."

"It's going to sting," she warned him.

"I'll manage," he sniffed.

_Alright. Final step._

She sent a surge of chakra through the seals weaved through his body. All at once they locked into their appropriate positions.

Daisuke's eyes went wide and he yelled in pain.

Arashi stepped back and picked at her scarf as the boy slumped onto the floor and whimpered in a ball.

"The stinging will go away soon," she offered, weakly.

"You didn't tell me it would hurt this bad!"

"Sorry?"

"It's like every cell in my body just got punched in the face!"

"Cells don't have faces."

"I know that!"

"You can, um, eat now?"

He glared up at her.

"So," she turned to Akio. "You ready?"

Arashi was not sure how it was possible, but Akio stiffened even more

"C'mon, it's not _that_ bad," Arashi laughed, nervously.

"She's a liar." Daisuke spat the words.

Akio looked from the boy on the floor to the kunoichi.

"Look, he doesn't have the best pain thresh hold and you know it."

"Screw you, Shi-Shi-chan," Daisuke muttered and climbed back into his seat.

She ignored him, "Besides, the version of the Fuin Shugotenshi I'm going to use on you took forever for me to tweak appropriately."

Akio raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I figured it would be no good if it repeatedly healed and closed off the passageways your insects use through your body, so I had to make adjustments so it would leave those alone."

The Aburame nodded his head in approval, although he was still hesitant.

"Okay, uh," she fidgeted, "take most of your clothes off."

Akio cringed.

_Daisuke's right. This is weird._

Akio looked like taking his coat, outer shirt, and then under shirt off in front of her was more painful than pulling teeth. He tried his best to sit still while she made guide marks across his body, but it was clear he was ticklish. He looked everywhere but at her and clenched his fists to keep from jerking away - or laughing. Arashi was not sure which would be funnier to see, even with how miserable he looked with the situation.

_I guess I never really stopped to think that maybe he's insecure about his body?_

She imagined it would be hard to have a good self image when most people viewed the Aburame as freaky.

"So, how have your missions been?" she tried to make small talk.

"They've been well," he answered, shortly.

_Okay, not exactly a conversation._

He shifted, uncomfortably.

_Maybe he thinks _I'm_ the gross one. Wouldn't that be ironic?_ She moved to his other arm, "You know, I did a lot of research about your clan and the alterations the bugs gradually make to their hosts over time. It's fascinating."

In truth, it made her skin crawl, but he did not need to know that.

"Hn."

_Okay. Apparently, he's not up for talking._

Arashi went through the same process of focus with Akio. The only difference was that she had to account for the thousands of insects inside his body. Nonetheless, it did not take her long to weave the jutsu through him and have it in the appropriate places.

"Okay, are you ready?"

Akio nodded and braced himself

She sent her chakra through the fuinjutsu and it sealed into position - earning a strangled yell of pain from Akio.

The Aburame doubled over in his seat and gasped for air as tremors went through his body.

_Yeahh.. the first time's a bit of a nightmare._

The door opening and slamming caught her attention.

Naomi rushed into the kitchen, her eyes wild with concern, "What's going on in here?! I thought someone was dying!"

"Nope." Arashi looked at her mother, innocently.

Kazika peered into the room - remembered his experience with that jutsu - glared at his sister, and walked away.

Naomi looked at the two boys. Daisuke was pale, his skin was clammy, and he looked like he was ready to throw up at any moment. Akio was still doubled over and bracing himself as waves of pain washed through him.

"Really, the only time you invite anyone over and you're performing experiments on them. You're a terrible hostess."

"At least when I have guests over they're not spies."

"You can't _prove _that."

"Yeah, because they fled the village before I could get ANBU on them."

"Oh, shush, sweetie, and grab a trashcan. Your friend is about to puke."

* * *

**Kazika, the Academy Student **

"Hurry, mom! Hurry!" Kazika bounced in and out of the room. "You've gotta hurry or we'll be late!"

"Kazika, I'll be done getting ready soon," Naomi replied without looking away from her reflection. "See? I'm almost ready."

Arashi sat on her parents' bed and watched the scene. Ookami sat beside her with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Mom, it takes you _forever_ to get ready!" Kazika whined. "I don't wanna be late!"

"Sweetie, we won't be late."

"_Mom_!"

"Oh shush!" She frowned, "Are you sure this is what you really want? It's dangerous."

The boy scrunched his nose up and pouted, "I'm going to be a ninja."

Ookami moved to Kazika and went to his knees so that they could speak face to face, "I know we've already been over this, but we'll talk about it one more time. Your other is right - this is a dangerous profession. You don't have to go through with this. You know that your mother, your sister, and I will love you and be proud of you, regardless of what you choose to pursue."

"I'm gonna be a ninja, even if it is dangerous," Kazika insisted.

Ookami stood, "Alright."

Arashi frowned. She was both proud of her brother and worried sick. This was all more like a game to him than something serious. She remembered all too well being excited and adamant about being a ninja. Ookai nodded in understanding. They had given her the same choice as a child, but she could not envision following any other path than that of her father.

"You could open up your own business like me," Naomi added

"I don't like girly stuff." Kazika's face scrunched even more.

Naomi shook her head, "Well, you could open a different kind of business. You like that tanto of yours - maybe you could pen a weapon supply store."

The boy thought about it for a moment, "I'll do both!"

"Doing both would be really hard," his mother replied.

"But, you're a mommy and you're good at your job. You're the best, too! I could do both."

_Pffft! Good one, Kazika._

Naomi's serious demeanor melted and she giggled, "You're such a sweet boy!"

_She can be such a pushover._

Arashi could not remember seeing the worried lines of her father's face when they had a similar talk with her.

_I guess even then I was showing promise as a shinobi, even with how much they spoiled me. It probably wasn't much of a surprise for them when I started harping about being a ninja._

She looked between her parents. There was a concern and a deeper understanding hidden beneath pride in their expressions.

_Or maybe I was just too young to remember anything but my own excitement._

* * *

It was nice to walk together through the village. They seldom did anything together as a family because of how busy they all stayed.

When Naomi offered her hand to Kazika, he refused, "Mommy, I have to grow up now!"

Whether it was his high pitched voice, his small stature, or the youthful expression on his face, Arashi was not sure, but her breath hitched in her throat.

_He shouldn't be allowed to grow up this fast!_

"Oh, alright," Naomi responded, good naturedly. "You are getting pretty big."

Kazika shot a toothy grin at his mother.

Arashi wrapped her arm around Ookami's and leaned into him. Even still, it made her feel safe to have him near. Unlike the little boy, she practically hung off of the two adults as a child. She was undoubtedly more affectionate at his age.

Ookami grinned, wistfully, "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," she squeezed his arm.

* * *

There were three requirements for anyone who wanted to enter the Academy to become a shinobi. The first was to love the village and hope to help preserve the peace and prosperity therein. The second was to have a mind that would not yield and to be able to endure hard training and work. The third was to be healthy in mind and body.

The exuberant ball of black spikes and energy that was Kazika met all of those requirements. Still, he had to go into the Academy to be examined before he would be admitted.

"Ookami, love?" Naomi whispered. "I'm going to stay out here for a little while. Would you care to take Kazika in?"

The man gave her an inquiring look, but nodded, "Alright. Come on, boy."

Kazika was too excited to ask any questions.

_That's odd._

Arashi watched them walk inside and turned to her mother. Naomi's eyes were bright with tears.

"You didn't cry over me when I entered the Academy!" Arashi huffed. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really. Just a feeling."

"Mom, he'll be in the Academy for years. It's not like you're losing him."

"I know," she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "I have such a good family. I'm proud of all of you. I really am."

"You're ruining your makeup. You don't want to go around snotty nosed and red-faced, do you?"

"You're sounding more and more like me every day. You should be scared," Naomi laughed through her tears.

Arashi shifted her weight and looked away.

"Oh, don't be that way. You're your father's over-indulged daughter, but you're _mine_, as well, and that makes me happy." She sniffled, "I don't say that enough, do I? You and your brother and your father make me very happy."

Arashi was not sure how she should respond to her mother's break down, but it was hard for her to not tear up with her.

"I don't think I've ever seen you like this," the kunoichi stated, at a loss for words.

"I'm afraid you'll find me boring. I never was cut out to be a ninja and you're so busy - I don't even know what's happening in your life - and I just wish I could connect better. Now Kazika's running after you and Ookami and I'm the odd one out."

Arashi searched for the right thing to say, "Mom, just because we have different occupations and lifestyles doesn't mean you matter any less."

"I know, it's just all these stupid insecurities. It's hard to watch your babies grow, sometimes. I feel like I've missed so much because of my store and wanting everything to be _perfect_. Now all I want is that time back so I could figure out a way to be closer to my children."

The longer the woman went on, the worse she cried. Several people passed and shot strange looks in their direction.

_She's making a scene!_

If there was a time she wished she could find the right words, it was then. Civilians and shinobi led different lives and had different priorities. A ninja worried about missions, injuries, serving the military, and making it out alive - while civilians had their own set of worries. The insecurities and troubles of a housewife were no less important than those of a shinobi. Just different.

_Come to think of it, it's kinda odd that Dad married a civilian, isn't it? Usually shinobi marry other shinobi and civilians marry civilians._

Perhaps it was because of similar circumstances that the trend was prevalent, but there was something charming about Arashi having parents from each world. She was able to see things more from both perspectives. Having a mother safe in Konoha was something not every ninja could claim. Naomi never had to fight for her life and never had to kill. In a way she was something like a sanctuary from the hard truths of the military's way of life - and Arashi had a hunch that might have been one reason her father was first drawn to Naomi.

"Mom, you're one of the only constants I have in my life. Isn't that important?"

Naomi dabbed at her eyes and nodded.

"That's right," she agreed in a quiet voice. "Mama will always be here for you."

"I know," Arashi wrapped her arm around her mother's shoulders, "L-let's get you cleaned up, alright?"

"Thanks, sweetie."

* * *

**How Much of Ourselves Will We Lose?**

Things made no more sense to Arashi when she turned fourteen than they did when she was thirteen.

The more time she gave herself, the more complicated her feelings for Itachi became. Everything he did was to serve the village or his clan and she was not sure where she could fit into his life as anything more than a friend. Fugaku's offer was almost cruel, because not only did it give her hope that her days being near her friend could extend into their adulthood, but it set another daunting goal in the distance for her.

Most of all, it gave her hope - a hope that was both bitter and sweet.

Perhaps if she could prove herself to the Uchiha clan as being capable, then she would have a better shot at their future clan leader. She was not sure what he liked in girls - she had never seen him take notice of any - and if not for their early meeting, she doubted they would have ever been friends. All she knew was that she wanted to be more to him, but she was afraid the open admittance of it would drive him away or damage what they already were to each other. She was terrified of rejection.

What could she offer to someone like him?

"You're lost in thought again."

She blinked, "Huh?"

Itachi did not press her for an explanation. They sat together on the wall surrounding Konoha so they could look over the village.

"Sorry. Just a lot on my mind. Thinking about jutsu and furthering my studies."

It was a lie. She was not brave enough to admit she was thinking about him. She had not even had the nerve to tell him about her intentions to work under his father if she could manage to become a skilled Jounin.

He hummed quietly in response.

"I'm just not used to having so many things bombarding me," that was not a lie. "I've been thinking a bit about myself, my friends, Kazika, being a shinobi, _us_."

His eyebrow raised a fraction.

"Well-" she wanted to throw everything she felt for him out in the open, but she chose to focus on the subjects that felt safer, "I never wanted to kill anyone until, well - I just - I don't like violence, which I know sounds ridiculous since I'm a ninja. Just seems like the older I get, the more I compromise who I am."

His expression softened, but he remained quiet. She would never deny he was a good listener.

"And, I guess that makes me sound selfish. I do what I can because I feel like it's the right thing to do for everyone as a whole and I believe that's probably what everyone does. Usually, I keep myself so busy I don't have time to think about this stuff too often. It's just, everything lately has been showing me how much time changes everyone."

Arashi chanced a glance in his direction. He watched her with a tired expression.

She continued, "I caught myself thinking, 'how much of ourselves are we going to lose?' and it bothered me. How much will we end up compromising?"

He did not respond. She searched his face for an answer - any kind of input. She was met by something in his eyes that did not set well with her.

A chill went up her spine. Whether she had struck a nerve or said something wrong, she was unsure.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "When I whine like this, I feel very selfish. I've never heard you complain even once. I wish I could exude that 'I have everything under control' vibe I get from some people." She picked at her scarf, "I've been trying to not use our friendship as an emotional safety blanket. I know it has to get repetitive and I'm afraid you'll get sick of me."

He leaned back and used his hands to brace himself, "Is that your perception us?"

She chewed on her lip and nodded, "Sort of. Sometimes. I just worry. I used to never worry."

"Hmm." His eyes became distant. "Our reality is shaped by what we perceive, but not everything is how it intuitively seems to be. That is the problem with perception. There is room for error."

Arashi was not sure exactly how she should read his response.

Itachi was not the type to banter light heartedly with most people. Even as a child he did not connect with the other kids. He was more preoccupied with watching, studying, and understanding what was happening around him. As of such, he never was easy to understand. When he would speak, it was always analytical and much _older_ than what anyone of his age group would think of. Sometimes it came off as cold. If not for the warmth of his chakra signature behind his words, then Arashi might have found herself unnerved by it, as well.

"You're still only sharing a fraction of what you're thinking," she pointed out. "But if you're telling me that I'm wrong about you getting sick of me, then thanks."

The side of his mouth twitched and he poked her nose.

She turned her face away from him, "Why my nose? You poke Sasuke's forehead."

"You're not Sasuke," was his reply.

"Well, I can't argue that."

"I have something for you. I hope you like it, even though it's late."

She perked up, "Oh? What is it?"

He pulled a thin box out from somewhere - she was not sure where he had it hidden - and handed it to her.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she insisted.

He inclined his head in acknowledgment.

Arashi removed the ribbon and opened the box. A white scarf stared back at her. A short laugh shot out of her.

"Is mine looking a little frayed at the ends?" she looked down at the scarf she was wearing. "I catch myself picking at it all the time."

"Do you like it?"

She ran her fingers across the material and found it to be very soft, "I do. Thank you."

She placed the lid back onto the box and regarded him.

"You really didn't have to get me anything." She resisted the urge to pick at her clothing. "Just a little bit of your time like this is more than enough."

"I'm glad you like it. Perhaps soon I will have more time to share with you?" His eyebrows once again knit together in apology.

The contrast between the expression he wore then and the one he had when he threatened Satoshi struck her. There were layers to him that he kept away from her. Layers that she wished she could see.

"I guess you need to go?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Another time?"

"Of course."

Once he was gone, she rested her face in her hands.

_Why does it feel like he's out of my reach when he sits right next to me?_

* * *

Alright, that's all for chapter 23. I apologize for how long it took and I hope it doesn't feel rushed. The next chapter should be out much sooner. :) Thanks to everyone who continues to follow this fanfic! If you have anything to say, please feel free to share it in a review!

* * *

**Windschatten**: I love your reviews. :) Yuto was fun to write because I wanted to show that Arashi isn't the most level headed person and she has a lot of maturing and growing up to do. ;) And no one insults Ibiki-Sensei. haha

I'm glad you liked the detail about the makeup. It's not something that's going to go away and I wanted to show a type of dependence on it to mirror how a lot of girls and women feel naked or not as confident without it.

Thank you for following along with this train wreck I'm writing. :)

**Juliedoo**: _Socially retarded_ is probably one of the funniest ways I've seen her team described as and it made me very happy. xD thank you!

Yuto turned out much differently than I originally planned him as being. In the wrong way. He wasn't supposed to be such a jerk, but it sort of just happened that way. Dx

Naruto and Sasuke are fun to write, but I look forward to getting to write them when they're a bit older. I'm a bit lost about what to do with them when they're so young.

Thanks for the review! I hope you like this chapter. :)

**534667lc**: haha I'm glad that you found that bit of detail funny. I always feel so awkward when I have to raise my voice to be heard, so I thought it would be amusing to put a character through that experience. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review! :)


	24. Hospital Quizzes

**Chapter 24: Hospital Quizzes**

I honestly had no clue what to name this chapter. I know, I'm very creative. haha Oh well, this took a bit longer than I wanted it to, but I've been really busy and it makes me a sad panda. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and I'd like to thank everyone that reads, reviews, and favorites this fanfic. It means a lot! :) Please look over any typos or mistakes I might have overlooked in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Dad jokes, surgery, jutsu, and a scheme.

* * *

**Song**: Naruto Shippuden OST - Determination

* * *

**Chapter 24**

"It's been a while since you brought your friend with you."

Arashi looked up from the book she was reading. Ookami crossed the small room and took a seat across from her at his desk. He placed two bento boxes between them.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, "Who?"

"Daisuke. He used to tag along with you to shadow."

"Oh!" Arashi's mouth formed an O. "Yeah, he claims he's doing a lot better with that weak stomach of his."

"I see. Is he?"

"Sort of?"

Ookami chuckled and shook his head, "What has he been occupying himself with?"

"Working with Ibiki Sensei, I guess." She replied. "Akio's more or less gone on missions more than he's around."

The man nodded and began eating.

Arashi pushed the book away and grabbed her own food.

While she took more missions than Daisuke, she found there was a lot of merit in increasing her experience in a safer setting, as well. She haunted both the Hokage's library and Konoha's medical facility - even more than she had when she was a Genin. She may have been knowledgeable, especially for her age, but there was still much that she needed to learn.

Besides, many of her best memories of her father took place in his office on a lunch break or as he was working through a pile of paperwork.

"So, how do you think Kazika's liking the Academy?" He asked to make small talk.

She snorted, "What do you think?"

"He'll be heartbroken when he figures out he won't be allowed to use his tanto on any of the other students until his second or third year."

"Well, some kids are allowed to progress a bit faster if they show enough talent."

Ookami's eyebrows rose, "As much as I love my boy, he is no prodigy. He might learn the skills to use it correctly, but he'll need some time to acclimate in maturity before they let him loose on other children."

Arashi almost choked on her rice.

_The let him run around with a crazy sharp tanto when they feel that way about him, but they blunted all of my kunai and shuriken at his age? Really?_

"What?" He asked, lightly. "I made him. I can acknowledge the fact that he's not the brightest child."

"I'm shocked," Arashi shook her head.

Ookami's eyes glinted, mischievously, "Hello Shocked, I'm Dad."

"_Dad_, you're being mean!"

"I'd like to think I'm being honest."

"Sure, he's not the smartest kid, but he's definitely not the worst."

"Standard forces, kenjutsu specialist." Her father shrugged. "That's my prediction."

"Most shinobi are in the standard forces and he's obsessed with weapons. That's not a hard prediction to make."

"I prefer not making bets I lack confidence in."

She stared at him and he grinned toothily at her wide-eyed expression.

"What would Mom think if she heard you saying this? Actually, what would Kazika think if he ever found out?"

"That's why this will be our little secret."

He chuckled and she joined him, conspiratorially.

Kazika might have looked like a miniature Ookami, but the boy was much more like his mother than his father in personality.

There was something comforting about how structured the environment in the hospital was. The only shinobi she could sense in the building were either patients, visitors, or the Medical Corps. There was little use in having security when there were no immediate threats present; therefore, the atmosphere remained somewhat tranquil.

The nurses handled most of the basic medical checkups, preparations, and filing. For more serious injuries, illnesses, or operations a medical ninja would be involved and assisted by their non-shinobi co-workers. There was always something to do, but typically no terrible rush unless an emergency case was deposited in their hands.

Arashi felt safe there. The only thing that unnerved her was when she could feel a patient's chakra signature waning. Death was nothing new to her, but the absence of a spark of life that had once brightened her surroundings disconcerted her. At that moment, she could feel weak signatures, but she tried to not focus on them. If they were there, then she knew they were being cared for.

The sound of footsteps rushed down the hall and stopped at the office door. Ookami's lighthearted demeanor dropped and he stood from his seat.

A nurse poked her head into the room, "Ookami-san, we just received an injured Black Ops squad - almost all of them are in bad condition and one is critical!"

Arashi's stomach twisted, _What?_

Her father rushed out of the room with the nurse at his heels. Arashi abandoned her food and followed after them. If it was a whole squad like the nurse claimed, they would have their hands full. She was sure she could make herself useful if they needed her.

They half-ran through the hall and down a level.

Each standard room was able to accommodate two patients at one time. Anymore and it would be over-crowded. The Black Ops members in the least need of medical attention - two, Arashi quickly assessed - were left in the care of nurses in one room. The more serious cases - three - were being attended by medical ninja in individual rooms.

_That's a large group of ANBU. What the hell were they even doing?_

Each of the serious cases were on separate gurneys - ready to be wheeled into an operation room.

Arashi and her father washed their hands and put gloves on.

"This one's hemorrhaging!" a medic called out.

The man's signature was weak and becoming weaker every moment. She almost froze when she realized she knew who this person was - the rookie that helped teach her team the Black Ops sign language. He was hardly recognizable under the oxygen mask, bandages, and blood. Arashi rushed over to his side and placed her hands over his wounds to figure out how bad it was.

He had a collapsed lung, a punctured artery beneath a broken clavicle, a slashed open arm, and severe damage to several organs. There was already an IV feeding him fluids in preparation for a blood transfusion.

Ookami's eyes fell on his daughter's patient. "Get the other two to surgery, immediately!"

The rookie - she never pursued his name - coughed up some blood and looked at her with bleary eyes. She doubted he even knew where he was.

_There's no way he's had these wounds long._

There were bandages wrapped tightly around his torso - likely the only thing keeping some of his organs inside his body - and another bandage bound his arm. His clavicle was shattered and beneath the broken bone was the damaged artery.

_They must have gotten into a nasty fight close to Konoha. There's no way he would have survived traveling a long distance in this condition._

Arashi held a chakra tourniquet in place and channeled a medical ninjutsu through one of his chakra pathways and into the punctured artery. It had to be more precise in order to deal with the injury quickly enough.

"Dad, I can close off the damage to the subclavian artery, but some of his organs are too damaged for the Shosen no jutsu to fix."

The Shosen no jutsu was designed to stimulate the body's natural healing capabilities to a point where recovery was rapid to an unbelievable degree. Minor to moderate damage to organs was well within the technique's grasp to repair, but when the damage reached a certain point - like the rookie's situation - the strain on the body was too much. His systems were on the verge of shutting down and his body would be unable to withstand the demands of the jutsu.

Ookami placed his hands over the ANBU's torso and probed to assess the damage.

His forehead creased in concentration, "Prep for a Chikatsu Saisei no jutsu!"

Ookami shifted his attention to the deep gash running the entire length of the patient's arm. The bandage wrapped around the limb was soaked with blood. After a glance to see how his daughter was faring, he set himself to mending the deep wound.

If they did not staunch the bleeding, then the man would not survive long enough for the Chikatsu Saise no jutsu to help.

"I need to treat his pneumothorax once we've taken care of this bleeding and he needs a transfusion." He spoke, calmly. "Do you remember how to treat a large pneumothorax?"

"Dad, really? A quiz right now? A chest tube to drain the fluid so the lung will have more room," Arashi replied.

"Good," he shifted the now mended arm out of the way, "Do you want to try it or would you rather handle the transfusion? A nurse should be back with the blood soon."

"I'll handle the transfusion."

"I'll make you handle a collapsed lung one of these days," he shrugged.

"Dad, he's _dying_."

He grinned. Even if Arashi's tone was scolding, she admired how calm her father was. Once she pulled her hands back and nodded, Ookami shifted their patient's arm behind his head. A nurse helped him clean the patient's side, beneath the arm.

A tray with the chest tube and all the items required to go along with the procedure were prepped and ready for him to use. The nurse stood next to it, ready to assist if needed.

Ookami injected a local anesthetic through the area he intended to make the incision. He turned and clamped the chest tube to give the medication time to numb the area.

"Do you remember where to incise?" he quizzed.

"Um, it's the area called the Triangle of Safety," Arashi replied.

"That's right."

Another nurse entered the room with the blood for the transfusion. Arashi accepted it from her and attached the bag to the Rookie's IV.

Ookami continued, "Make the cut between the fourth and fifth intercostal space. Do you remember how to determine where that is?"

"By counting the ribs," she answered.

"Good," he marked the location.

The free nurse busied herself with filling out paperwork and jotting down notes on their patient. It was now a waiting game for the transfusion to bring his platelet number up to a safe level, so Arashi crossed over to observe her father's work.

He made the cut, dabbed the blood away, and grabbed the curved forceps to dissect the tissue for a pathway into the chest. Once the diagonal insertion was made and the last layer gave away, a gush of fluid came out of the plural cavity. Ookami unclamped the forceps and inserted the tube.

"Now, we have to secure the tube." Her father glanced up at her. "We will be moving him soon, so let's make this as stable as possible, shall we?"

"Okay," she nodded.

He sutured the skin around the tube so that air could not pass through the opening and tied the ends around the tube. Arashi looked toward the patient's face - it was probably a good thing he was slipping in and out of consciousness for this part. Even with anesthesia, she had a feeling it was quite painful. Once Ookami was sure the sutures were secure, he mended the flesh into place for added stability.

"And now we load it down with gauze and bandages, right?" Arashi asked.

"Of course."

He layered gauze onto the area and bandaged it down in order to have an extra barrier against bacteria.

"Now," he turned toward the tray, "We have to attach it to the drainage system."

He took the clamped end of the tube, connected it to the other tube and then released the clamp.

"And that is the procedure," he turned to his daughter. "Any questions?"

She raised her eyebrows, "Not really. How long until everything's prepped for his next treatment?"

All of their work would be for nothing if his organs shut down.

"Soon. It takes a lot of coordination for it to work and he needs enough blood in his body to last the duration of the jutsu. I'll try to speed up the healing process of his pneumothorax before we have to move him off this gurney. Now that the air is leaving the cavity, it shouldn't be difficult."

* * *

The room they transferred the Rookie - his name was Riku, according to his chart - was large. A massive seal was drawn on the floor. Arashi's eyes darted to take in all of the detail. She had read about this technique many times, but this was the first time she would get to see it in action. They placed the patient in the center of the seal.

_Dad really wanted his lung taken care of before this. I guess every little bit adds to the chance of success with situations like this and if we had to set him on the floor with the drainage system still attached, that could've caused complications._

Four medical shinobi were poised at each corner of the seal and at the head of the operation was her father. They had taken a sample of Riku's hair to use as a medium to regenerate the organs that were in dire need of treatment.

Arashi stood by the wall and observed everything. The sensation of their chakra passing through the seal and converting the hair into new cells was fascinating. Each of the medical ninja's chakra control was impressive and she could not help but pay extra attention to her father. She was proud of him, of his knowledge, and his experience. She was proud that he let her see this side of him and that he saw enough potential in her to guide her down the same path in life.

Her mind boggled at the concept of converting the medium into new cells for a different portion of his body and she hoped that no one noticed her mouth slightly open from awe. They were systematically resuscitating a person that was beyond her ability to save.

_I want to learn this. I want to be a part of this._

The Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu was not a fast jutsu. As time went on, she understood with greater clarity why it had a low success rate. It was viable only for people with the worst injuries, but the patient had to live long enough for its completion.

Enough time passed that new shinobi came and took the places of the initial ninjas channeling the technique. She stepped out of the room and waited for her father to exit.

Once he appeared, she grabbed his arm, "Will you teach me how to do that?"

His eyebrows rose, "It's not easy."

She noted how tired he appeared. It did not surprise her.

"I know, but I want to learn. If I can help somehow with it, even if it's just once, then it's worth it."

"Well, if it's what you want, I'm sure we can work something out," he patted her back. "I'm going to grab something to drink."

"I'll stay here," she replied. "I think I might want to watch some more."

He nodded and walked away.

Warmth tingled through Arashi and she frowned, perplexed. Itachi's signature entered the hospital and was on its way toward her location. There was another familiar signature with him, but she could not place who it was. Her heart lurched in her chest.

_What if he was involved with the same mission that went wrong? Is he hurt?_

When he came into sight, she nearly sighed in relief. He was not visibly injured in any way and the person that was accompanying him was Yamanaka Inoichi. She had seen him around the Intelligence Division several times.

"Itachi?" She frowned, "Is there something wrong?"

His expression was stern, but it softened as he answered, "I am here to check on my subordinates and your patient."

Arashi knew that Riku served in Intelligence. He was involved in information gathering and espionage, primarily.

_Does that mean an espionage mission went wrong and Itachi's squad was sent in to get him back?_

It struck her then that he was a Captain in ANBU.

When had that happened? When had her friend shed his previous existence as the gentle boy that would meet her in the library? Everything that happened in his life was so _fast_ and _sudden_ that it made her head spin. He tore through the ranks, advanced, picked up the slack, and continued to show how different he was from the rest of his peers.

_He's only been thirteen for a little while and he's already this progressed in his career? The distance between us as shinobi is immense._

She turned her attention to the blond, "Hello, Inoichi-san. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Oh?" Recognition brightened his face, "Ah, you are one of Ibiki's students. Arashi, right?"

She blinked, "Uh, yeah."

There was an amicable quality about the man that put her at ease.

"I need to speak with Riku-san," he explained.

"Ah," her lips thinned into a line. "He's being worked on right now. They've been busy with him for a long time now and I'm not sure how much longer it will take for them to finish. The best advice I can give you is to take a seat and wait it out or come back later."

His expression hardened.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience?" Her voice faltered.

He sighed, "He is in possession of information that none of the other members of his squad were able to get. I need to get this from him - especially if there is a chance he won't pull through. Certainly, you know how much weight there is on missions assigned by the Hokage?"

"Yes, but interferences with what they're doing could complicate the process for them and potentially reduce the chances of the jutsu succeeding."

"I won't even have to move him," Inoichi replied. "I need just a few moments of time to probe his mind. Has he been conscious?"

"In and out," she answered. "I'm not sure how coherent he'll be."

Inoichi nodded, "It should not be an issue. He doesn't have to speak."

Arashi stayed where she was - positioned between the two ANBU members and the door - with her arms crossed. She could feel Riku's signature getting stronger as the jutsu went on and she was not fond of the idea of letting them interrupt it. Everyone had worked hard to stabilize that patient.

_I'm sure he probably could get the information he needs now, but it doesn't seem right to risk his condition any further._

Itachi's expression remained passive and Inoichi seemed to be a gentleman, but she knew their patience would wear thin.

"I'm not in charge of any of this," she shrugged. "At least wait and ask my dad before you run in there, okay? He's on his way back. Just left to get something to drink."

"I suppose that's fair enough," Inoichi acquiesced, "Your stubbornness reminds me a little of my daughter."

The statement had a fond note to it.

When Ookami made it back, he found his daughter still planted in front of the door and two member of ANBU waiting.

"Is something wrong, Inoichi-san?" he asked.

"Ah, yes, I need to see Riku. I am aware that he is being treated right now, but it is urgent."

"I see."

With one glance in his daughter's direction, he was aware that she was unhappy with the situation. Her nose was lifted in the air and her eyebrows were in a V. He knew her moods well.

"Arashi, would you care to take Itachi-san to check on the other ANBU members we have in our care?" Ookami asked.

"Yeah, okay," she uncrossed her arms.

"Thank you, Ookami-san," Itachi inclined his head.

* * *

As soon as they were far enough away, Arashi turned her attention to the Uchiha. A portion of his hair hung loosely - a lock that had been cut. It was no longer an adequate length to be tied back with the rest of his hair, but too long to blend in with his bangs.

_Did he nearly get hit?_

She chose to not say anything about that observation. She agreed to take him to check on his squad and that was what she was going to do.

"I'm glad you're okay," she whispered.

He hummed in response.

They checked on each member of the squad that was brought in and she remained out in the hall as he exchanged a few words with them. When he was finished, he stepped out and regarded her.

"Well, that's it," she commented.

He nodded and turned to walk away.

_He's just.. walking away?_

He was being abnormally distant.

She swallowed over the lump in her throat, "What will Mikoto-san say when she notices your hair? How close you came to having a nasty gash across your head?"

He paused, "It isn't the first time my hair has been cut."

Now that she had his attention, she felt desperate to keep him there.

"Let me even it out." She offered as casually as she could. "She won't have a reason to wonder about it, then."

His dark eyes fell on her, "I do not have much time."

"It won't take long."

He nodded once.

She led him into a vacant room and had him sit on one of the beds. There was something wrong, but she could not place it. She was not sure if it was because the mission had went poorly or if there was something else on his mind, but she knew that something was off. Outwardly, he looked fine. Passive, somewhat refined - an appearance that befitted the future leader of his clan - but his signature felt different.

If she had to describe him, then it was generally as gentle and warm. At that moment, he still felt gentle but his warmth was less noticeable.

_It's like he's hurting or something._

She decided it had to be stress from his missions. Even though she wanted to ask him about what happened, she knew that his missions were to be kept a secret.

"I'm not as good as my mom at doing things like this," she commented, "but I'll try to make it look half decent for you, alright?"

She ran her fingers through his hair.

Arashi had touched his hair before, but she had never gotten to indulge in it. This was the first time she had an excuse to feel the strands in her hands like this and there was an almost intimate aspect about the act. He did not object as she ran her fingers through once again.

_His hair is so much better than mine._

She was careful as she trimmed away the excess and almost regretted that it was over so quickly.

"You know," she looked at the strands, thoughtfully, "the last time I held someone's hair like this was when Kushina-san gave me a lock to keep to remember her by, if anything ever happened to her. She said it was a really old tradition, but it's kinda weird, isn't it?"

Itachi looked at her and it was like he saw through her. Most of the time it made her feel like he understood what she was saying, but now she wanted to keep her real thoughts hidden.

He closed her hand around the lock, "Another time?"

"So soon?"

He poked her nose and left her standing in the room with his hair in her hand.

_He needs a break. These missions, this stress, all of this pressure and all of the expectations from his family - I can't even imagine the weight of all of that._

Arashi knew that if she stressed her concerns to him, he would simply poke her nose, evade the subject, or have other obligations he had to attend. His life was a series of missions, training, playing with his brother, and touching base with her - except every time he saw her he seemed more preoccupied and the time between was longer.

_His dad expects so much. It's not like he'd be happy to see Itachi taking a day off just to spend some time with me or, geez, maybe sleep in for a single morning. Too bad I can't just pay him to take a day off-_

Her eyes widened as a plan clicked together in her mind.

_A mission._

* * *

Arashi walked up to the mission assignment desk. She fidgeted for a moment as Hiruzen watched her stand there. The kunoichi did not want to initiate the conversation, so she waited for him to speak to her first. One moment stretched into two. She had a hunch that he got a spike of amusement from her discomfort.

"How can I help you, Arashi?"

"I have a request, Hokage-sama."

"Oh?" he leaned forward. "What is it?"

"It's still a little while off, but I intend to visit a nearby town for a day or two and I want to pay for a bodyguard."

His curiosity was piqued, "Is that so?"

"I know that it will be expensive and I know that he's a valuable shinobi, but I want to hire Uchiha Itachi to escort me for one day."

The old kage's knee-jerk reaction was to say no - she could see it in his eyes - but he caught himself and hummed in consideration.

"Why Itachi?"

"He hasn't been himself lately," she explained. "I think he's under a lot of stress and I want him to relax. I know that he won't take it easy just because I ask him to, so I thought this scheme might work. I'll hire him to take a day off, basically. I mean, I don't want him to know it's me who's behind it. I was thinking that maybe he could be given a fake name, told to meet his client in her town, and informed that she might have a shinobi after her. It'll be a B ranked mission and _really_ expensive, but I'll pay for everything. That way his dad won't give him a hard time for disappearing for a day, his services are paid for, and there's enough notice beforehand that it's not too sudden."

They lapsed into silence while he thought of what she had to say. It was hard to read what the man was thinking by his expression.

Finally, he chuckled, "Well, then, you've put some thought into this."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama."

"I'll go along with this scheme of yours," he replied, "In exchange for a favor."

"A favor?"

"I always make a point to meet with the new Students and then I continue to keep in touch with them as they study and grow. You seem to be familiar with children. I want you to accompany me and display to the classes some basic things that medical shinobi can do."

"Oh. Well, that doesn't sound too bad. You have a deal, Sandaime-sama."

* * *

And that's it for this chapter. If you have any opinions, criticisms, or thoughts you'd like to share - please feel free to review. I love all kinds of feedback. :) I'm actually quite unsure about this chapter. Perhaps it's just my mood, but I'm not sure if I like it all that much. Sighh.

**Also, I'm going to recommend The Tale of Two Leaves once again. :P Windschatten is a good writer and her story has a good amount of mystery that needs to be delved into. **

* * *

**Misora Asuka:** Thank you for the review! :) It makes me very happy that you enjoy this. I've worked very hard at making the OCs bearable. Arashi's friendship with Itachi is something that I fret over because I want it to come off as right and not too cheesy or cliche. I have sometimes worried that I'm not portraying Itachi and Naruto correctly, but as time goes on I'm more comfortable with it. Ahh, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Windschatten:** Daisuke has too much sass for his own good. xD It's probably more of a surprise that I haven't actually had him say that to someone - probably Arashi. They've each done some growing up, but it has been a bumpy ride up to this point.

I'm happy that you enjoy the closer look at her research. I do take a lot of time to think things through when it comes to how things function in Naruto. At least I know some people enjoy my ramblings!

It's becoming more and more apparent that I'm addicted to foreshadowing. hahah I wondered how the scene with Naomi would come across and the situation with Itachi is just sort of.. snow balling. I feel like I'm in a race to show how sweet he can be before the inevitable happens. xD ahh

Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Juliedoo:** Thank you! xD I love your reviews. They make me happy.

You're exactly on point concerning the difficulties of actually growing up. I'm glad that you enjoyed Arashi's talks with Naomi and Itachi. Life has a lot of different perspectives and I kind of wanted to show that.

I think I have an unhealthy fondness of Ibiki. hahah

Thank you once again and I hope you enjoy the new chapter. :)

**534667lc:** Perhaps she is like him or perhaps they're experiencing the same doubts, just over different situations. :P hehe, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	25. The Academy

**Chapter 25**

Alright, this was a little longer than I expected it to be and I meant to post it Thursday night, buuut that didn't work out. Then I meant to post it Friday night, but things came up such as a day trip for me to adopt a new kitten (I need a name for him! He's a pretty black thing) and a friend of mine that I haven't seen in ages visited me. Soo.. xD I apologize for any typos or errors that I'm sure I've over looked.

Thank you to everyone that read, reviewed, and favored ASitS. :) Also, I know I've already suggested it several times, but if you haven't been over there then I recommend checking out The Tale of Two Leaves. I'm hoping there will be a new chapter today. :P Windschatten probably thinks I'm a stalker by now..

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Akio seeks advice, Kazika and Arashi provoke each other, and a career in the Academy is definitely not a choice Arashi will consider in the future.

* * *

**Song**: Modest Mouse - Dashboard.

* * *

**Chapter 25: The Academy**

_Teaching kids won't be so bad. I mean, it's more of a display. A mini seminar. No big deal._

Arashi was quickly learning that the Third had a sense of humor. Whether that was a good or bad thing, she was unsure. Likely, it was a little of both. Nonetheless, she had an agreement with him and she intended to honor it.

She sat in her room, looking over things she was preparing for the next day. She had to rehearse what she planned to say. She did not want to go in blind and not know what to speak about and she had a dozen medical kids to finish putting together. They were nothing too special, just basic bandages, sutures, creams, and a tourniquet, but she assumed they would be familiar enough with the contents to take part in a hands-on project. If they were not familiar with basic first aid, then she could turn it into a lesson of sorts. They would probably be bored to tears, but it was a part of being a shinobi.

Naomi tapped her knuckles against the door, "Arashi? You have a visitor."

The only person other than her mother that she could sense in their home was a certain Aburame's signature that she knew all too well.

"Akio?" She muttered.

"Nothing's ever a surprise for you," Naomi sighed. "I used to get so excited when people would stop by to see me unannounced like this, but I guess being a sensor kills that thrill for you."

Arashi looked at her mother and replied, flatly, "I'd rather be able to sense when enemies are coming after me than have a cheap thrill."

"Oh, shush. You know that wasn't what I meant," she huffed. "Go talk to that boy. It's rude to make him wait."

"You always make everyone wait."

"Only when I'm getting ready. A girl should always present her best."

"Whatever you say, Mom."

Arashi discarded her preparations and walked downstairs. Akio stood by the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He sucked a breath in when he saw the kunoichi. An anxious tension was thick in the air around him.

_Is he nervous?_

For a second she thought he was going to walk out without a word.

"Akio?"

"I need advice."

Her eyebrows knit together, "About what?"

"A girl. I need to know what to say to her."

Arashi's forehead creased, "About what?"

"I like her. I want her to like me."

Arashi's mouth formed an O.

"Okay," she cleared her throat, "Why are you asking me?"

"You're a girl."

"Well, yeah."

"And you said you don't mind my insects."

Arashi blinked. She had said they were fascinating in an attempt to help him feel a little better and to strike up a conversation. In truth, they still made her somewhat uncomfortable, but she could never admit that now.

"If you can see past that aspect of me, then others can, too."

_What have I gotten myself into?_ She cleared her throat again as she searched for the right words to use, "It's a part of you and it's nothing you should be, uh, ashamed of? I mean, embrace it and don't feel like you need to hide it. Just be you."

His eyebrows rose above his sunglasses.

"How about we take a seat, I grab some tea and we figure this out together?"

His lips thinned into a line.

Once they were seated in the living room and their drinks were in hand, Arashi turned her attention back to the Aburame. He sat across from her with his back stiff and although she could not tell because of his sunglasses, she had a hunch he avoided looking at her.

"Okay, well, tell me about her?"

"I met her on a mission. She is nice. Tries to talk to me."

"She's seen you in action and still talks to you, so that's a good sign."

"What do you like for guys to say?"

Arashi almost laughed at how lost he was - except she was just as lost. She was never the girl any of the other boys tried to coerce into dates and she had never tried to flirt with anyone. She had a record of zero dates and zero boyfriends and so far the guy she wanted was so far out of her reach that it made her soul ache. When it came down to it, she had no personal experience to base any advice on.

"Well, um."

The cheap romance novels her mother kept leaving in her room as an unspoken gesture of "advice" was all of the experience Arashi had.

_What would the girls in those stories want?_ A few of the more intimate scenes flashed through her mind. _Other than the smut._

Akio waited for her answer.

"Try opening up a little. I guess, if I had to sum up what most girls like, then I think I'd have to say confidence. I mean, you should be nice and give compliments, but make sure it's not half hearted or empty words."

He nodded.

Arashi was not the type of girl that dreamed about a guy sweeping her off her feet. She did not have a long list of things she wanted. All she knew were the attributes she enjoyed in friendship.

Still, she did not want him to realize she was on the bottom of the desirability list. Being career driven and having a sharp tongue proved to be a deterrent for most guys.

"Personally, I like a guy that's a good listener, too. It means a lot when they're not only all about themselves. If, uh," she thought for a few seconds, "If you have any common interests then capitalize on that. If you don't, then be knowledgeable enough to carry on a conversation about what she likes. I know I'm attracted to a sharp mind, so there's that. As for what to say? Sometimes you don't have to really say anything. Sometimes just being there, supporting goals and dreams, and all that stuff is enough. Who doesn't want to feel understood and interesting? Ultimately, I think a good heart matters more than anything."

She could almost hear him taking mental notes, "What do you not like?"

Arashi thought for a moment. All of the concerns she had for Itachi rushed to the front of her mind.

"I don't want to feel like I'm being walled out or that I'm unwanted. I hate knowing something is off, but being kept in the dark. I worry when I think something like that is happening. I don't want to ever feel like I'm a burden or that I'm useless. Too much pride is definitely a bad thing." She looked down at her cup. "And just make sure you never lose who you are in order to gain acceptance from other people. It's not worth it."

He mulled over what she had to say as she took a drink of tea.

"Is your lack of compromise why you've never had a boyfriend?"

Arashi nearly choked.

"No!" Naomi called from another room, "She just hasn't grown out of the 'annoying little sister' phase of her life, but we're working on it!"

"_Mom!_ Stop eavesdropping!"

Akio chuckled.

Arashi glared at him, "And here I was trying to give you good advice and everything. This is the kind of thanks I get!"

"I do appreciate it."

Her gaze softened, "You're not the only one with insecurities, y'know. I never thought growing up would suck so much. It's way more complicated than they led us to believe."

Akio grunted in agreement.

"Anyway, what do you like about the girl? Other than she's nice and she speaks to you."

"Her smile."

"Tell her she has a nice smile."

"It's not that simple."

"What if it is, though?" Arashi leaned back in her seat. "What if it really is as simple as saying what you like about other people and just being honest?"

"You'll be gutted. Rejection is easier than affection."

"Do you really feel that way?"

"Yes."

She sighed, "I'm not sure what to tell you, but I think you should give it a shot. None of us ever know the outcome of anything until we try. Maybe it'll work out for you and if it doesn't, then it's not like you've lost anything with her."

"Hn. I suppose."

They lapsed into silence.

"I suck at giving advice, huh?"

"Yeah."

* * *

**Arashi the Sensei?**

The children stared in awe at the aged kage at the front of the class. Arashi stood a step behind him and scanned through the young faces of the up and coming generation. Kazika waved at her with a toothy grin and she smiled back at him. She was not sure if it was a coincidence that their first stop was in her brother's class, but the longer she observed Hiruzen's ways, the more convinced she became that he enjoyed having his fingers in the middle of "coincidences". Not that she minded.

_He's a fun old man._

She doubted many kages possessed the same sense of humor that he had.

_I still can't believe he agreed to me stealing Itachi._

Her wallet could not believe she sank the ryo into a B ranked mission, either.

Hiruzen shifted his arms behind his back, "I trust everyone has been giving their best?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Kazika yelled from the back of the class.

Arashi resisted the urge to cover her face with a hand.

"Very enthusiastic," the Third chuckled. "And there's nothing wrong with that. You only get one life and it is best to walk the path of your choice passionately. Protect those precious to you, uphold the will of fire, whatever you choose to do - do so passionately."

_Uh oh. This might turn into one of his really long winded speeches._

"Today I brought someone to do a bit of a demonstration. As a shinobi, there are several specializations you can pursue. I know that you are all aware of the different ranks of shinobi - Genin, Chuunin, Jounin, and Kage. Those are individual rankings. A shinobi then belongs to either the standard forces, ANBU, or the medical squad. Within those are still more divisions. Today, I've brought along a volunteer to show you another choice that may be open to some of you as a shinobi that you might wish to consider."

He inclined his hat at the kunoichi and retreated for the door. On the way, she noticed the elderly man pulling his pipe out.

_Time for a smoke, I guess._ She smiled at the class, "Hello, I am Ran Arashi. I am a Chuunin, a Iryo - which is a medical shinobi - and I operate in the standard forces."

Kazika's hand shot up, "Hey, Sister, shouldn't you be in the medical squad, like Dad?"

"I'm' standard forces until I choose to transfer into the medical squad. I'm able to go on missions and care for teams more hands-on than if I was behind the scenes all the time."

"Oh."

"Alright, I've brought with me a few things for the class to work with today." She motioned toward a few scrolls on a table beside her.

"You brought class work?" Kazika whined. "That's so lame!"

Arashi rolled her eyes.

The class's instructor shot a nasty glare toward the boy, but remained at the side of the room to stay out of the way.

"Everyone, line up!" Arashi gestured for them to come toward her.

As each student came to the table, she unsealed one of the medical kits from a scroll and handed it to them. The action earned gasps and stares of surprise and wonder from each of them, except from Kazika. The boy had seen his sister doing things like that for as long as he could remember.

_Why can't he be cute like the rest of them?_

Once everyone was seated again, Arashi put away the scrolls and turned to the class. She had rehearsed what she was going to say many times, but now she drew a blank as she looked at the young faces in front of her. It seemed easy the day before. It should have been simple. All she had to do was explained what she did, the kit she handed out, and walk them through a hands-on project, but the words that came to the tip of her tongue were jumbled.

"Eh," she cleared her throat. "Okay."

"Hey, Arashi, you okay?" Kazika yelled from the back. "You look like you're drowning!"

"Am not!" She hissed back. "Alright, open the package I gave out. You'll find it's a basic kid. Does anyone have questions about how to use them?"

All of the children pulled the contents out and shook their heads to her question.

_Alright, either they know how to use them or they're too shy to say otherwise. I guess that's fine._

She raised her voice so that she could be heard, "Field medics, like me, accompany groups of shinobi on missions that are considered to be of a higher risk in order to increase the chance of success. Normally, if someone is injured they would have to deal with the injury with a kit a lot like the one I've given all of you. The process is slow and painful and it either hinders the mission or puts a top to it , altogether."

She pulled out a kunai and held it up.

"Medical shinobi use jutsu to mend wounds. It is not something easily mastered. In fact, most shinobi that choose to learn medical ninjutsu have to dedicate themselves to it. You have to have excellent chakra control, a knack for ninjutsu and-"

"Hey, Arashi, what's up with the kunai?"

Arashi squinted at her brother, "Are you always this rude? I'll tell Mom and Dad!"

"It's just you! You're not my Sensei!"

His instructor glared at him, "Be respectful! The fact that she's your sister should only make you treat her better!"

Kazika mumbled something incoherent and pouted at his desk.

"Anyway," Arashi huffed. "Now, for my demonstration."

She held her arm out for everyone to see and then she sliced it open from her shoulder to her elbow.

Several of the little girls screamed.

Kazika's mouth fell open.

Arashi tried her hardest to not show how badly it hurt.

The instructor stammered in surprise.

"Looks kind of nasty, right?" Arashi forced a smile. "Good thing I'm pretty good at using medical ninjutsu."

She wiped the blood away with a cloth to reveal that her arm was intact.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Her chest swelled with pride as she took in the expressions of amazement around her. She was proud of how well the Fuin Shugotenshi worked.

Kazika's hand shot up again, "Is that the jutsu I helped you test?"

"Yeah. It really helped me figure a couple things out."

Pieces clicked together in the boy's head.

_I don't know if I trust that gleam in his eyes._

Kazika unsheathed his tanto and stabbed it into his arm. To the bone.

Arashi's hands flew to her mouth.

The girls shrieked again.

The instructor shouted in surprise.

Kazika pulled the blade out and his face paled. His arm was not healed like his sister's.

In fact, he was bleeding everywhere.

"Kazika!" Arashi scrambled to him. "What were you thinking?"

He looked at her with tears in his eyes. She held him still and channeled a Shosen no jutsu into the injury.

"You used that jutsu on me before and I thought it would w-work!"

Arashi took a steadying breath, "Don't you remember when I undid it because you were numb?"

The boy sniffled and covered his face with his free hand.

"Don't cry," Arashi whispered. "All of the girls will think you're a wussy and the boys will make fun of you."

Kazika bit down on his lip and nodded.

_Well, he just humiliated himself. Is he always like this in class?_

The boy steeled his nerves and dropped his hand to look at her, "Does this help with your demonstration, Arashi?"

"Huh?"

His stare hardened, "Doesn't it help?"

His tone had a hinting edge to it.

_Oh! He wants me to play along!_ Arashi turned her attention to the class, "Do you see how I'm treating this? The jutsu I'm using speeds up the body's natural healing process."

"Feels kinda weird," Kazika mumbled as the skin finished knitting itself back together.

One of the girls near him whispered, "Does it hurt?"

"Nope!" The boy grinned at her. "Kinda itches."

The girl gawked at him and a couple of her friends moved to get a better view. The tears that were in the boy's eyes disappeared and now his chest swelled with every bit of attention he got.

_He used me. He used me to make himself look cool._

"Let's move out of this room and continue outside until the blood is cleaned up?" Th instructor suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," she agreed

* * *

They herded all of the students outside and then he went back to take are of the mess. With nothing else to do, the children stared at her, expectantly. Her brother stood by her side, practically preening after his stunt. He was now the tough boy in the class.

"Kazika, show them your arm," she urged him.

He held the limb out for everyone to see.

"Is it hard to do that, Arashi-Sensei?" One of the girls tugged at her shirt. "Could you teach me?"

Arashi blushed. No one had ever referred to her as a sensei or looked at her with the same admiration before. The girl's wide eyes pleaded her case better than any words and Arashi wondered if that was why her father always caved in to her.

Arashi's head throbbed. It was not that long in the past since she was in their position - surprised and fascinated by everything.

"You'd have to work really hard at chakra control and spend a lot of time studying in order to learn the jutsu I used."

The girl nodded, "I'll work really hard at it!"

"I'll speak to you again, before I leave and we'll see what we can do to get you started-"

"C'mon, Arashi, do something cool! You're my sister so you really have to be super cool! It's for our family!"

She squinted down at him.

Being around other children made him bolder. The classes gave him a chance to socialize, learn new things, and to discover more of who he was. She knew that her parents drilled manners into him and it was a surprise to see him being a bit of a brat, but she also recognized he was confident and happy to be there.

_Maybe he is cut out for this?_

"C'mon! Do something really cool!" he urged her.

Something about his antics reminded her of Naruto - except Naruto was louder, was on his way to being considered the village delinquent, and had a problem with authority. They both had a lot of heart and while they were neither the brightest children, they meant no harm. They were just boys.

She sighed, "My medical justu is cool enough."

Kazika pouted hard.

_I mean, I want him to think I'm like the best. I think I'm cool.._

"So lame," he whined.

"I'm not letting a six year old manipulate me. You should clean your tanto and shush."

"Sen-san was so much cooler."

Arahi had no clue why the boy thought highly of the Kiri Jounin.

"Don't say that, Kazika."

The boy huffed and turned away from her. He was pouting so hard that his lip stuck out from his face.

"You little brat."

* * *

The Chuunin instructor stepped out of the Academy to return to his class. It was almost impressive how much Kazika bled on the desk, chair, and floor. He had seen worse in regards to injuries, but never anything self inflicted like that. He had half a mind to confiscate the boy's weapons until he showed more sense.

Enthusiastic described the boy fairly well. As did dense, gullible, and overly cheeky.

"He's new," he told himself with a sigh. "He will adjust."

A chorus of screams started the Chuunin. He ran the rest of the distance to the training area and froze.

there was a giant falcon chasing he students with its wings held out to herd them closer together

The bird held Kazika in its beak by the back of his shirt like a kitten.

Arashi yelled indignantly at both the summon and her brother.

He realized then that the siblings brought out the worst in each other.

* * *

Arashi tugged at her scarf.

Sukai was no longer allowed near small children - or morsels, as he called them. He did not hurt anyone, but now she was convinced half of the class would suffered from some sort of PTSD kick back for the rest of their lives. Sukai found it hilarious, Kazika stopped calling her lame - and Arashi was reassigned to a different class.

"You sure you don't mind if I take some of your class time away?" she mumbled.

It was humiliating how she played into her brother's hand.

"No, it's fine," Iruka replied. "It will be a good break from their usual studies and they'll still learn something."

She wanted to thank him for his pleasant disposition, but did not want to come off as weird.

"Thank you."

Iruka lead her into his classroom. She got a good look at the students in Naurto's class and she was impressed. Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Hyuuga, Aburame, Inuzuka, and Uchiha - she was convinced that all of the clans present must have had a pregnancy pact. It was not uncommon for them to produce children in the same age groups because it was a pressing concern to produce enough offspring to preserve their names, traditions, and techniques, but several of them were the children of the clans' _leaders_.

_Oh, Naruto-kun, you're competing with some tough acts to follow._

"Alright, class!" Iruka gestured to Arashi, "We have a visitor."

Naruto waved at her, wildly. His eyes were wide with surprise to see her there. She usually only showed up when he was in trouble or they had plans to get ramen - which she hated now - and neither of those situations were the case.

"Hello, everyone." She waved. "My name is Ran Arashi. I am a medical ninja in the standard forces and Sandaime-sama asked me to visit with the Academy today."

"What? Are you going to be like the nurse or something?" The Inuzuka asked.

"Well, no-"

"Well, I think it's about time we got an Iryo for the students," the Yamanaka girl crossed her arms. "I mean, it only makes sense!"

A girl with pink hair watched her classmate with a mixture of admiration and jealousy. The blond girl was confident and her blue eyes had a piercing aspect that reminded Arashi of Inoichi.

_Oh! That must be the daughter he mentioned in the hospital._

Iruka shushed them, "Everyone, be polite and listen to what she says."

_Remember, you're ultimately doing this for Itachi._

Iruka squeezed her shoulder, "There."

"I should be good if you need a break."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," he smiled.

After he left the room, she cleared her throat and struggled to remember what she rehearsed the day before.

"Well, I'm not a nurse. I'm here to give you a bit of a lesson on what shinobi like me do. Not everyone is cut out to fill the same niches. Some people are good at taijutsu, some excel with ninjutsu, and other genjutsu. Beyond that, there are people who are amazing at tracking, espionage, or interrogation, and then some specialize in barriers. Personally, I chose to be an Iryo, or medic ninja, because even though I'm not the best in open combat, I wanted to be able to make a difference while on missions and in Konoha."

The kids looked progressively disinterested the longer she talked. Arashi was pretty sure the Nara boy was asleep, the Akimichi was far more interested in his chips than in what she was saying, and Naruto was drawing.

_Should I cut myself again to get their attention? Oh wow. That thought's kinda pathetic._ She decided against that idea. "There comes a time when every shinobi will find themselves in the hands of a medic. We work in the hospital and we go on missions. Does anyone have questions?"

The pink haired girl raised her hand "What kind of jutsu do you use? Medical ninjutsu, right?"

Naruto perked up and grinned when the girl spoke.

"Yes. I use medical ninjutsu, but it takes a great amount of charka control and medical knowledge to use successfully." Arashi shrugged. "Most people are incapable of the appropriate chakra release even if they meet the other requirements. There's a reason why there's not a huge number of medics in the village."

"Release?" She repeated, confused.

"That's something you'll learn later," Arashi replied.

"Sakura-chan, you're so smart!"

_Oh geez, he has a crush. How cute-_

The girl's green eyes narrowed at Naruto in disgust and she turned away from him.

_Erm._

Naruto sighed, crestfallen. The Hyuuga girl near the back watched him, sympathetically.

"Arashi's the one that knows the subject. Sakura just asked a couple questions." Sasuke pointed out. "What's so smart about that?"

Sakura visibly deflated from his words.

"What did you say?" Naruto stood from his seat.

Sasuke ignored him.

"Sasuke!" The blond yelled.

The Uchiha threw his nose in the air, "You heard me."

"You think you're so cool, y'know, but you're not!" Naruto pointed at him. "I'm tired of you acting all high and mighty!"

"Erm, boys?" Arashi squinted at them.

"Don't yell at Sasuke-kun!" Sakura hissed at him.

Naruto was dumbfounded.

_Did she really just defend Sasuke after he hurt her feelings?_

"Yeah, Naruto! You're making a scene!" The Yamanaka girl joined in.

Arashi frowned, "That's enough! Take a seat and be quiet!"

"Why do you care?" Sasuke mumbled. "He's just a moron."

Any reservations Naruto still had were forgotten. He jumped over his desk ad lunged at Sasuke.

_Hokage-sama, this is a nightmare.._

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the class chorused and rushed to gather around.

Arashi waded through the students and grabbed the back of both Sasuke's and Naruto's shirt to pull them apart. The blonde's elbow caught her in the face, but not a single one of his attacks landed on the Uchiha. Even with Arashi latched onto him, the Uchiha boy was agile.

Arashi jerked them apart and put herself between them - just as Iruka entered the room.

_Oh my._

Arashi had never seen Iruka in the middle of one of his rages. She had seen the post and the pre-rampage stages, but never the state he was in then. A vein bulged from his forehead, his face was red, and the man looked like he was ready to punch through a wall.

All of the children turned to look at him before he said anything, as if they could sense his anger.

"What do you think you're all doing?!" He yelled.

Arashi let go of the boys and stared at him, cowed.

He stormed across the room, " What happened? Naruto, did you start something again?"

"Actually, no." Arashi replied for him.

Naruto looked at her, gratefully. He had a black eye from the scuffle and Arashi treated it with slumped shoulders.

"Everyone, review the Kawarimi no jutsu!" Iruka barked at the class. "If anyone complains, you're staying after class for an extra hour!"

Not even a single sound came from the children.

Arashi released Naruto and whispered to the angry instructor, "I'm sorry. Can I talk to you outside?"

He nodded.

As soon as they closed the door behind them, she turned to him, "Naruto wasn't the one to start it and I'm sorry that I didn't stop it. I'm not good with kids. They sort of walk all over me."

His eyebrows rose and he ran a hand over his face. Arashi leaned against the wall and slid to the floor

"They're an explosive combination. It's like there's always a storm brewing between the two of them." Iruka explained. "Sasuke's just smarter. He's better at provoking a fight and not getting caught."

"So, not all of their classes are like that? They're not always fighting?"

"Well, not physically."

Arashi snorted. "You're one of a kind. I couldn't do this. I don't have the patience and kids don't really take me seriously."

He shrugged, "You're doing fine."

"I'm banned from one class and a fist fight broke out in another.

This was for a day or two vacation for her friend and that was the only reason she did not get up and walk out. At the very least, the experience convinced her that she would never seek a position in the Academy - but if she could not handle six and eight year olds, how could she handles the Police Force? How could she prove to the most self-righteous, proud clan in Konoha that she was worth consideration even though she did not possess a Sharingan?

"Don't look so down," Iruka tensed. "Just don't cry over this. Didn't you see how happy Naruto was to see you? Probably made his day."

"He probably wants ramen." She mumbled. "I hate ramen. I gag whenever I think about it."

"I could take him. I've done it before."

She blinked and looked up at him, "Really?"

"Yeah," he looked away and tapped at his hitai-ate. "He reminds me a little of myself, to be honest."

"Really? I mean, I think that's great. I worry about him, y'know?"

"I try to keep an eye on him. I might have to talk t Sasuke's parents if the antagonism between them doesn't let up."

The thought of Fugaku being informed that Sasuke was doing anthng unsavory instead of devoting himself purely to graduating and chasing after his brother made Arashi's stomach sink. He was a strict man that expected too much. Having Itachi as his first son spoiled him to unrealistic expectations and she knew Sasuke did not live up to them. Sasuke might have been a rat and he did antagonize Naruto but she felt sorry for him.

If she had learned anything from Akio, then it was that dissatisfaction with home life sometimes had negative ways of manifesting.

"Don't tell Fugaku-san about what happened today."

Iruka's eyebrows raised.

"I know his family. If you take Naruto out for ramen for me tonight, I'll walk Sasuke home and have a talk with him."

He thought about it for a moment, "Alright. You have a deal."

Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye as they walked away from the Academy together.

* * *

As Iruka promised, he and Naruto were on their way to Ichiraku to eat. The kunoichi felt like she had dodged a bullet in that respect, but now she wondered why she put herself out of the way for the Uchiha.

"Please, don't tell my parents."

She frowned, "You need to stop doing that."

His eyebrows knit together and he looked away from her.

The boy knew what he was doing was not something his family would approve of. Arashi had no doubts about that. He was smart enough to know when he was in the wrong when dealing with Naruto, but he was also smart enough to get away with it most of the time. The blonde boy simply walked right into it without realizing what he was doing.

"Why do you care?" Sasuke mumbled. "It's not like he's your family or anything."

She shrugged, "I would take up for you if someone was being mean to you and you're not my family."

"Yeah, but you and big brother are friends. Aren't you nice to me because of that?"

"Yes and no," she replied. "Naruto's kind of like a little brother to me. He doesn't have anyone, you know. Imagine being all alone, no friends and no family. I'd like to think if my role was reversed with his, then maybe someone would take the time to care about me."

He did not speak.

"And I know that your parents would rather you focus on your studies." Arashi continued. "And what would your brother think? He might have only been in the Academy for about a year, but the entire time he was there I never saw him treat anyone like that."

Sasuke looked at his feet and nodded.

"I know it sucks, but you were born into a family with a lot of expectations. Be proud of them, be proud of their accomplishments, but don't treat other people like trash just because of your blood, alright?"

The rest of the walk to his home was quiet and tense. She was impressed that he was as composed as he was, but his anxiety was barely held in check. They stepped inside and a glint appeared in his eyes that suited someone about to be executed better.

Mikoto greeted them with a friendly smile, "Oh, Arashi-chan? What are you doing here?"

The girl glanced over at Sasuke and he wilted away from her, "Oh, just walking Sasuke home. I volunteered in his class today and thought he might like some company."

The woman looked between her son and the teenager.

"Is that so? Alright. I was about to start dinner. Would you like to stay? I could teach you a couple of my recipes."

Arashi blinked, "Uh, yeah. That would be nice."

In all honesty, she was more in the mood to work on another jutsu, but this would pan out fine. Sasuke squirmed even more at the idea of her staying through the evening.

_I doubt his clan would care that much if they found out he was a jerk to someone in his class, as long as it didn't look bad on the clan as a whole, but he doesn't have to know that! _Arashi grinned at him, "Sasuke-kun? Don't you have some homework?"

His eyes narrowed slightly, "Yeah."

"Get to work on it so you won't have to worry about it after we eat." Mikoto shooed him away.

He nodded and retreated from the room they were in.

"Well, let's get started on this," the Uchiha motioned for the girl to follow her.

This was the first time Mikoto had offered to teach Arashi a few things. The young kunoichi was not lost in the kitchen, but missions and training kept her from being as adept as she could have been. Naomi was adamant about teaching her daughter how to, at the very least, fend for herself and it was not uncommon for Arashi to help with a meal, but other things took precedence.

The Chuunin was flattered. _Is she going to teach me how to cook something Itachi will like?_

After they were in the kitchen, Mikoto turned to her and whispered, "So, what did my son do?"

Arashi blinked, "Huh?"

"Sasuke's the easy one to read. It's obvious when something's bothering him and judging by the way he was mortified when I asked you to say..." she trailed off.

"He's just a boy." Arashi replied. "I don't think it's anything to worry about."

"I see." The woman scrutinized her for a moment. "You think making him squirm will be enough, huh?"

Being under Ibiki taught her that using a person's fears against them was often easier than they let on. She did not want to cause real problems for Sasuke, but she did not want him to continue his antics against Naruto. She hoped that this would work.

"Basically."

Arashi waved the whole thing away and Mikoto turned back to her task.

The teenager sighed, mentally, _Well, at least she's got a much nicer disposition than her husband. _

Even if the day had been a hassle, she reminded herself that it would all be worth it. Itachi was going to be very surprised - unless the Third let him in on her ploy - but she had a feeling that would not be the case. If anything, Hiruzen was an excellent partner in her scheme and a headache of a day to ensure that they were on the same page of exchanging favors would be worth it if everything went according to her plan.

_Soon._

* * *

And that's it for chapter 25! Thank you to everyone who read this and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any feedback, opinions, criticisms, or suggestions, then please feel free to share them in a review! :) I love all types of feedback so don't be shy.

Next chapter features Arashi's ploy to give Itachi a day or two off. :)

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**Sweetnat180**: I wish I could give Itachi a happy ending. Believe me, I do. At the same time, I think that the tragedy of his character is what makes him such a good character. He should have went on to be something amazing - a kage, a revolutionary Uchiha clan leader - but nothing ever worked out for him.

;) But don't assume that I'm definitely not going to have a couple nice things happen for him in life.

Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Windschatten**: I'm glad you liked it! :)

It's undeniable, especially at this point, that Arashi is his favorite even though she's adopted and Kazika is not. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that Arashi and Ookami share similar passions and they click with each other. Unlike many other characters, her hero is not a kage or a legendary person. Her hero is her father and his goals are simple: help people. Proving that she is worthy of his confidence is very attainable. xD Ahh.

Itachi is a very perceptive person. I won't say whether he realizes or not, but consider who he is, who she is, and the rest is up to reader interpretation.

Thank you for the review! :D

**Misora Asuka**: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. :)

Arashi's ploy gets to play out next chapter, but at least with this one a lot of the children are featured. One thing with Naruto is that there's so many different characters and developmental lines that it gets challenging to juggle them, but I try (even if I don't always achieve what I want).

Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well! :)

**Juliedoo**: One thing that I have wondered while researching the little bit of information offered about medical ninjutsu, etc; is whether Kishimoto really took the time to go in depth with it, himself. I feel that he was more taken with the concept of writing the more offensive type of shinobi and left the support roles untouched. I'd love to see more in the science of what it takes to be a medical shinobi and how amazing and intricate some of what they do can be. I'd have to say Kabuto is probably the most fascinating canon medic to me, even though I adore Tsunade.

Itachi is a difficult person. He's a character that has wrapped himself so tightly in lies, deceit, and secrets all in the name of taking care of everything by himself. Short of manipulating him, there's not many ways that Arashi could possibly help him. xD I'm glad you liked that.

(I wish I had his hair)

**534667lc**: I'm happy that you enjoyed the last chapter. :)

Itachi and Arashi get to hang out next chapter. I've been looking forward to writing it for a long time now, so hopefully I can finish it quickly and get it posted before too much time passes.

Thank you for the review! It is appreciated. :D


	26. Dare to Dream

**Chapter 26: Dare to Dream**

I really did not mean for this chapter to take as long as it has. I apologize. I would like to thank everyone that read, followed, and favored this fanfic. :) You're a lovely. I would also like to throw out that I want to start doing something for the people following along - I would like to start writing one-shots for people. At the 100th review on this story (that counts for any reviews after it ends) I will write a one shot for the person that wrote the 100th review. For part 3 I will write a one-shot for every 50th review - that means the 50th, 100th, 150th.

* * *

Once again I would like to recommend The Tale of Two Leaves by Windschatten because I love it and I'm totally stalking it. Join me.

Please look over any typos I left in here and I apologize if it's a little too fluffy. Sighh.. I just don't know what I think of this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Arashi meets Itachi for a short hiatus from their lives as ninjas.

* * *

**Song**: Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice

* * *

**Chapter 26: Dare to Dream**

Once a year, the village of Yoji had a festival celebrating its past and reveling in its current state of prosperity. It owed much of its success to its hot spring rich location and it quickly became known as a tourist area. The streets were wide, well kept and busy with merchants, civilians, and tourists. The shops and restaurants bustled with business ad everywhere one looked there were signs that advertised a spa, a casino, or other landmarks people often came to see. As with most places in the Land of Fire, the climate was sunny and the skies were clear except for a few lazy clouds.

If there was one place in the entire country that someone could relax, it was there.

_I have to be the only person in this area ready to tear my hair out._

Arashi sat on one of the too-firm beds in the hotel room she booked weeks before. The plan had seemed brilliant and fool-proof, but now that she was there, she felt insane.

_He's going to think I'm crazy. Who does this sort of thing? Why didn't I think about this more? I've so over stepped boundaries and he's going to think I'm obsessed with him._

She looked at the clock. The parameters of the mission included Itachi meeting his client in her room at a specific time - which was ten minutes away. She expected him to be a little early. He always beat her to any meeting spot they agreed on.

His signature came into range and her back stiffened.

Beside her was a box with a present in it for him. Their usual agreement of eating at a cafe and catching up felt insufficient. She wanted this to be special.

Itachi tapped his knuckles against the door a few times. Arashi shot to her feet, glanced at a mirror, and went to let him in.

_No backing out now._

Itachi's eyebrows rose. Instead of the client he thought he was meeting, he was greeted by a nervous kunoichi that looked ready to bolt any second. He did not say anything at first. He glanced past her, into the room, and then pinned her with an inquiring look.

"Surprise!" Arashi held her arms out. "Welcome to the beginning of your paid two day vacation."

"So," his tone was flat and his lips were a hard line, "You're my client."

"Uh, yeah. You're too busy and tired all the time. I get it that you're an ANBU captain and you're in high demand, but if those tired lines on your face get any deeper, they're going to be permanent."

The air around him shifted and he looked away from her, "You should not have done this."

Tension filled the room.

"I just wanted you to rest."

"My duties and responsibilities have been put off for this."

Her stomach twisted into a knot, "I'm sorry. You don't have to stay for the full two days - or any of the days, really."

He did not reply. Instead, he averted his gaze. Arashi fidgeted - it was like he just disconnected from the situation to consider something. She felt forgotten and the ache to know what his thoughts were dug into her like a thorn.

"At least step in here? I have something for you."

He moved inside, but stayed by the door.

_He really doesn't want to be here, does he?_

She plucked the box off the bed and handed it to him. Without looking at her, he opened it and pulled out a necklace. It was simple in design with three silver rings and a thin but sturdy chain.

"I wanted to give you something to keep with you. I guess since you gave me this scarf, my thoughts were along the lines of something you could wear."

He let out a short hum and replied, distantly, "We should do what you hired me for."

Arashi looked down at the floor, "This was pushy, wasn't it?"

He did not reply and his lack of a response was as bad as a slap.

"I just-" she swallowed over a lump in her throat, "I just worry about you. I worry about your safety on those missions, I worry about your happiness at home, and I worry about the stress and mental strain you go through."

His expression softened, but his voice was firm as he replied, "You worry too much."

"No, I don't think so. Not in this situation. You never talk to me about anything that happens in your life. I feel like it's a guessing game or a puzzle and when I get closer to piecing it together to get a picture of what's going on in your mind, you take a handful of those pieces and walk away." The words rushed out of her like water through a broken dam. "I don't mean to cling because I know all that would accomplish is pushing you away and I don't think I could stand to lose you, so I try to not pry, but you've become so distant. I feel like you're gradually separating yourself from me and the more I watch you, the more apparent it becomes that something is wrong and you're in pain."

He watched her with his face set into a passive mask.

"Is ANBU what you really want? Have you thought about resigning?"

"I have no reason to resign."

"No reason? You haven't been yourself lately and I want you to be happy."

"I assure you, I am only tired."

It was hard to read him. She never realized how frustrating it would be when, at that instant, his striking eyes took on the veiled cast that she knew all too well as a refusal to discuss something. She could sense the troubled cast to his chakra, but she was unsure as to whether it was linked to her current state or if she was right and he needed out of the Black Ops.

All she knew was that he was not going to tell her and she felt like an idiot.

She wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm losing you, aren't I? It's only a matter of time before I won't even have a place in your life."

"Never."

The softness of his tone surprised her, but he went no further to explain.

She shook her head, "I just wish I could help you. I didn't mean to make you mad. I should've thought this through better-"

"Forgive me," Itachi wrapped his hand around hers, "You're right. I _do_ need this break."

She stared at him in disbelief. His lips were curved into a smile, but she knew what he said was only meant to placate her. Knowing that the expression he wore then was only another mask was almost worse than if he chose to walk away. She wanted genuine happiness - not a lie. She wanted to be the cause of that happiness.

He tugged her into a walk.

_Did I really just say all of that to him?_ She stared at her boots. _He must hate me right now._

Every step felt like she was lifting weights instead of her feet. This was not how she planned for this to begin. It was supposed to be something he would enjoy, not something he would tolerate with a generous amount of longsuffering.

He squeezed her hand comfortingly when they reached the street and instead of releasing her like she expected him to, his grasp remained firm and soothing. She wanted to be the one to soothe _him, _but she did not openly acknowledge it. She was afraid that even one word would spoil the gesture, so she chose to indulge in a guilty silence.

Itachi was not the type that sought physical contact. Even with her insistence to hug him as a child, he tolerated it at best. The hold he hand on her was almost like an apology and encouragement in one. She tried to not focus on it, but it was difficult. She had never left the village with him before and there was something intimate about it just being _them_ in a crowd of people they did not know.

More people were gathering in the streets as time went on and more stands were erected in preparation for the festival. The sights, smells, and variety of signatures played with her senses, and if not for the worried thoughts of her friend, she would have been grinning from ear to ear.

Arashi was not stupid. There was something wrong with him and she knew he was keeping it from her.

Arashi shook her head. She needed to steer this toward something more positive. It would be a waste if they were miserable the entire time. She scanned their surroundings for something for them to do and her eyes fell on a game stand with stuffed animals as prizes. There was one in particular that caught her attention. It was a badly sewn together cat that was both hideous and adorable at the same time.

"So, where do you want to go?" She focused on him. "This is meant to be your mini vacation."

He shrugged a shoulder.

_Ugh._ She looked around and her attention was once again drawn in by the patchwork cat. "How about we play a game?"

They went over to it and Arashi eyed the set up, dubiously. There were bottles lined up in rows and the point of the game was to throw rings around their necks. The man that was running it watched her, flippantly.

"Hey, I'd like to try," She pulled out some ryo to pay for her attempts. "How much?"

He pointed to a sign, "No ninjas."

"Huh? Why?"

"Ain't fair to the normal people."

"Oh."

Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder, "I guess I won't get to play, but at least you can, Arashi."

The man raised his eyebrow, "You both look like ninjas to me."

Itachi shook his head, "No. I am here to look after her as my mission."

He was the picture of sincerity. Arashi had been near some good liars and Itachi was definitely at the top of the list. He slid into the farce without a second's hesitation.

"Ain't that a ninja pouch tied onto the girl's waist?"

She looked at her medical pouch, "What? This? Ah, nah. It's a fanny pack. I know, I'm lame."

He rubbed his chin, "So, you're being escorted by a ninja? You're not bringing trouble here, are you?"

"No," she shook her head. "Daddy just wanted to make sure I was safe since he couldn't come with me."

Itachi released her shoulder, "It's just a precaution."

_Oh my, this is fun._ She giggled, "Yeah, Daddy's afraid I'll get abducted or something. I mean, who worries about human trafficking in a place like this!"

"Alright." The man gathered a few rings, "I'll be watching you."

"Okay!" She exchanged the ryo for the rings.

Itachi whispered into her ear, "Miss the first several."

A shiver ran up her spine and she nodded.

_I can just hear Daisuke laughing about how I'd miss without trying._

She wet her lips and lined up a throw. She felt like the man was staring a hole through the side of her face, waiting for her to out herself as a shinobi.

_Really? He's a bit too suspicious._

She threw the first ring and it bounced off the side of the bottle.

_Alright, one toss thrown away._ She mustered up a bubbly giggle, "Okay, maybe the next one!"

The next skidded across the top of two bottles and clattered on the ground.

She pouted.

Itachi touched her shoulder, "Try throwing them more gently."

She loved this act.

"This is harder than it looks."

Itachi slid one of the rings out of her hand, "Hold it like this."

_This is way more enjoyable than the actual game._ She watched him with the best confused look she could contort her face into. "Okay, so like that?"

The Uchiha nodded.

Arashi intentionally missed again.

"Ugh! I'm terrible at this!" She tugged at her hair. "Maybe if I'm a little more careful."

Itachi shrugged, "These games are a waste, but it's up to you if you want to try again."

"You're getting better." The man encouraged her, now convinced that she was a civilian - a civilian willing to throw ryo away. "I bet you'll get it the next few times. Here, I'll give you another ring for free."

"Really?" She grinned at him.

"Here, go on, girl."

She took it from him, stared intently at the bottles, and threw the ring. It clattered around the neck of one of the center bottles.

She cheered, "Yeah!"

The man snorted, "Good job. Which one do you want?"

"The cat." Itachi pointed to it.

Arashi squinted at him, _He noticed? I looked at it like twice. That's almost creepy._

She hugged the stuffed animal to her chest. She grabbed onto Itachi's sleeve and tugged him into a walk beside her. They were forced to stay almost arm in arm because the groups of people pressed in around them.

"Okay, what do you want to do now?" She called over the crowd.

He scanned their surroundings, "There's a dango stand over there."

"Alright, we'll get a snack."

Once they had their food in hand, they continued walking the streets. Arashi was fairly certain Itachi was in a better mood after their ruse to get the ugly stuffed animal than he was when they met in the hotel. Not that she could have perceived that accurately from his outward appearance. He was good at showing only what he wanted to be seen.

If not for her sensory skills, then she would have been lost in her attempts to read him.

Something caught her attention and she paused to look over her shoulder. A photographer stood next to a sign advertising his work.

She nudged Itachi and pointed, "We should take a picture together."

He inclined his head.

Arashi pushed through the crowd with Itachi at her heels. The photographer greeted them and ushered them over into a roped off area where he had a backdrop set up.

"Okay, so, we just pose or whatever?" she asked.

"Move a little closer to each other and smile?" The photographer suggested.

"Um, okay."

It was awkward to pose together when they both had dango in their hands and she had a patchwork cat in a headlock under one of her arms.

The photographer snapped a photo and frowned, "I think there's something on your mouth, girl."

Arashi wiped some food off her lips, "Eww. We'll have to take another one."

Itachi chuckled, quietly.

She squinted at him, "You could've told me I looked like an idiot."

The photographer snapped another photo and she glared at him.

"What?" He shrugged, innocently. "Your expression will look hilarious."

Arashi leaned against Itachi and forced a smile - she was sure she would look angry or crazy - and the photographer took another photo.

"So," he took a step back, "Do you want to take anymore?"

"I think this is fine." She replied.

"Well, which one do you want?"

Arashi shrugged, "All of them."

"Eh? Alright. They'll be ready for you tonight or you can pick them up tomorrow."

"Oh. Okay." She turned to Itachi, "What do you want to do after this? We have another hour or two until the main event of the festival is supposed to start, I think."

He shrugged.

"Guess we'll just waste some time, then."

* * *

They weaved through several more stands and pulled the same ruse on many more games. After the initial burst of annoyance, Itachi seemed to enjoy himself. The behavior was erratic for him and she was not sure how she should perceive it.

"Look, it's finally starting!" Arashi whispered, loudly.

They stood in a crowd of people and watched as the procession came down the center of the street.

First came horses carrying the town's leader and the priests from a local temple. They wore ceremonial clothing from a century before. Next came people dressed in armor, carrying weapons used in skirmishes before the Lands were defined and before organized militaries existed.

Arashi glanced at Itachi to check his reaction. He watched the procession with an interested spark in his eyes. She knew he was linking everything to the history texts he liked to study. It was his influence that led to her taking more interest in history.

If she was to be completely honest, she found it to be a mostly boring subject, but she pushed through it to connect better with him.

Next, performers followed the soldiers, playing instruments. Behind them were people carrying floats and flags. She linked her arm with his and pointed at a particularly colorful one.

_I wish I could do this with Itachi all the time. Sure, this isn't anything too amazing, but being able to be with him without his clan breathing down his neck and glaring at me with their freaky eyes makes it worth it._

Arashi had always said she wanted to help people and that was her greatest motivation. She still stood by that, but now she dreamed of things she once frowned on. She wanted to be loved and recognized as not only a shinobi, but as a girl - by a certain Uchiha ANBU captain that loved history and embodied what she wanted to see in herself.

When they got back to the hotel room, Arashi dropped a bag of dango on the bed and went over to the TV. Itachi stripped his weapons from his body and removed his shoes before he settled on the bed beside the food.

"Think they have anything decent to watch?" She peered through the small selection. "You know, I never watch television. I never have the time."

Nothing caught her fancy. Everything looked dated and boring. Most of them were documentaries about the festival they just watched or the local terrain.

"Eh, let's learn about hot springs."

Itachi snorted and pulled a stick of dango from the bag.

"Er," Arashi squinted. "Does the volume not get any louder on this thing?"

She messed with it a bit and sighed.

"Well, we might not be able to hear it too well, but it's something. I mean, look! We have time to watch a box with lights in it!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged and climbed onto the bed beside him. They adjusted the pillows together to prop up against as they picked through the leftover food they brought with them.

_Sheesh, the last time we had the time to hang out like this was when we were little._ She grinned. _Actually, we've never even gotten to have this much time together. An evening of hide and seek or tag as kids doesn't equate to this. My dad would crap a brick if he knew I was doing this with a guy._

The documentary was not well put together and the sound was off.

_Well, this kinda sucks. Maybe I should've chosen to turn on the radio, instead._

Arashi blinked awake and looked around, blearily. The lights were turned off, leaving only the television's blank screen as the only thing lighting the room. She blinked a few times. Itachi's warm signature was right beside her.

She mumbled out in a half whisper, "Did I fall asleep?"

When he responded, his voice was as thick with sleep as hers, "Yeah."

His arm was pinned under her.

"Oh. Did I fall asleep on you?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry. Want me to move?"

She felt him shrug.

"That documentary was terrible," she breathed out.

Sleep tugged at her consciousness. If she was entirely awake, she would have been flustered by their current position. Instead, she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek into his shoulder.

"Itachi?" she whispered

He hummed.

"Do you have a dream?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. You've never mentioned any to me."

"Hmm, is your dream still to become a renowned medic?"

"I think that's really more of a goal. As long as I get to help people, I feel like I'm achieving it."

"Then you have a new dream?"

"Maybe," she played with a few strands of his hair. "If you tell me yours, I might tell you mine."

He was quiet for so long that she thought he was asleep, "I don't have time to dream."

"Oh."

It was always a series of objections and goals in his life. She mentally reprimanded herself for thinking he would join in on her silly, half asleep conversation.

"I figured just about everyone has a secret aspiration or desire." She explained and twisted the hair around her finger. "Maybe someday we'll both have the time to compare what we want in life and not just what's expected of us."

She hated that she could not see his face, but she doubted she would have the courage to look, regardless. It was easier for her to hope that he could reciprocate her feelings rather than mustering the courage to discover if he did or not. If he did not, she was afraid it would ruin everything between them.

Arashi felt his body relax beside her. She did not realize he had even been tense - he was so skilled at appearing calm and at ease that she missed that detail. Each steady rise and fall of his chest beckoned her to join hm. Whether or not he had a dream, she would never be sure, but she hoped that even if it was just for that night, they could dream together.

* * *

The sensation of fingers brushing across her throat - tracing the scar tissue - made her spine stiffen. Her heart went from being at rest to racing in less than a second. The memories of the kunai cutting through her skin and the terror that gripped her as she fell was again all too real.

Her eyes fluttered open and Itachi pulled his hand away. She sat up and gasped in a deep breath. It was only the two of them.

He watched her with his eyebrows knit together in concern, "You wanted to visit the hot springs before leaving today?"

She nodded, but her heart still thrummed wildly. She leaned forward to cradle her head in her hands and her attention shifted down to her scarf. It had been loosened and shifted away from the scar, but she knew it was tied securely around her neck the night before. Even if she tossed and turned while she slept, it would have still been in place.

_He wanted to look at it?_

She peered up at him through the loose strands of hair that fell in her face. She wondered if it bothered him as much as it bothered her. The image of his face when he discovered it was enough to haunt her. It was the most emotion she had ever seen from him.

"It's a pretty bad scar, huh?"

He sighed through his nose and replied, "You survived."

"And that's all that matters, right?"

He inclined his head and stood. He was ready for the day and it dawned on her that he let her oversleep for several hours.

Arashi frowned, "I set an alarm."

"You looked tired."

Her frown deepened and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. For the sake of reinforcing her desire to be more mature, she resisted the urge to pout.

He poked her nose, "We still have time, so don't make that face."

"It's hard for me to not make a face when you poke it - which is better than when you used to flick me all the time. That hurt."

Her turned, took a step toward the door, and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Okay, okay."

She hated being rushed right after waking up.

* * *

Arashi looked down at herself. She wore nothing but a towel. It covered everything personal, but she felt like she was naked and baring herself to the world - or more accurately, everyone in the hot spring she was about to enter. She wondered why she thought a mixed gender one was the perfect choice now. She would be able to talk to Itachi in a much more potentially intimate setting - she was trying desperately to separate herself from just being his childhood friend - but in the face of the opportunity, more insecurities bubbled up.

Arashi was at a strange point in her life where she was starting to transition from being all skin, bone, legs, and elbows, but the changes left her with mixed emotions. It was her body and she took care of it, but she could not control the way it was developing. She could not use her biological family as a gauge to guess at what she would end up favoring, because she did not know who they were and had never seen pictures.

Her adoptive mother was a beautiful woman and she found herself once again wishing they shared blood. Her adoptive parents were so wonderful to her that she never had the desire to look into her biological parents. She assumed she was orphaned because of the last war, just as many other children were orphaned. They never spoke of the details and continued to care for each other as if they had always been a family from the start of her life. In fact, Kazika still did not know that she was adopted. Arashi pushed the thought from her mind - there was no point in revisiting something that bothered her when she dwelled on it.

She had more pressing things to focus on.

Arashi took a deep breath and went to find Itachi. He was already in the water and waiting for her. There were several other people, as well, but she paid them no mind.

As she entered, the heat made pleasurable chills course through her. There was nothing that compared to a hot bath or shower and the warmth helped ease the nervousness that pressed in on her.

Until a man's eyes fell on her neck and the ripple effect of imagining how she got such a gruesome scar passed across his face and onto the faces of those around him that noticed right after he did.

The sensation of the wet towel stuck to her skin began to suffocate her as she stood frozen - she would never be free of the memento Satoshi marred her with and no matter how much time passed, it was still painful to acknowledge.

Her hand rose to the scar and she turned away from their stares. She did not want to wear a scarf into the spring, because of the silly looks it would have earned her, but now she felt that perhaps quizzical expressions were the better option.

Her eyes met with Itachi's. He was still waiting on her to join him with a friendly curve to his lips. It was a gesture she had a hunch he directed at her because he knew she liked it. It was a rare occurrence to ever see him fully smile, but he often offered her that and right now she needed it. She was sure he saw their reaction and she noted that he was careful to keep his gaze level with hers.

Another thing that she noticed was that he now wore the necklace she gave him.

_Well, at least he doesn't completely hate it, I guess._

She settled beside him, "I was thinking that maybe after this, we could go find a gambling ring and put ourselves in crazy debt."

Itachi arched an eyebrow at her, "It is good to emulate Tsunade, but only in her professional achievements."

Arashi snorted, "I guess so. I really wouldn't want to be considered a financial joke. I'd rather waste my ryo on other things."

The conversation died there.

_I love and hate how quiet he is._ She sighed, "So, I'm assuming Sasuke's enjoying the Academy? Does he still pressure you into training him?"

"All the time." Itachi replied and there was a fond note underlying the words. "What of Kazika?"

"Ehh," she shook her head. "He likes it, but I think right now it's mostly for social reasons. He likes being near other kids and it gives him an excuse to 'practice with his tanto', but I really think he just likes showing it off more than anything right now."

Itachi hummed, "How is Naruto?"

She thought of the boy's bright eyes and smiled. Everyone knew she had a soft spot for him. It started off as a feeling of obligation to him because of his parents, but now she just wanted to look after him as she would Kazika. Naruto threw his whole heart into what he did and although he had his own issues that frustrated her to no end, he was just a kid and his life was not easy. Akio and Daisuke never brought him up to her - she was not even sure what their opinion of the boy was. It was not a subject she breached with people because she was afraid to find out that they hated the boy and then the whole situation would become awkward.

_Itachi's more thoughtful than they are, though._ She shrugged, "He's managing. He'll never be the top of his class and he's far from book smart, but he's hanging in. He's a determined boy."

Itachi nodded once.

_Okay, what else do I say?_

Typically, she liked companionable silence between them, but she wanted to keep him talking. When people talked, they gave away something of themselves. The more a person talked, the better the person listening could figure them out and she wanted to goad him into letting her in more.

_Maybe something a little closer to home will draw him out?_ She cleared her throat, "So, a while back, your dad mentioned maybe recruiting me into the Police Force once I'm a Jounin. He said that you would eventually leave ANBU and start working with him and I guess he thought I'd be of help because of my friendship with you and my specialization as a medic."

A flash of emotion passed over his face and he frowned.

"I don't intend to join the Police Force."

"Wait, but doesn't your dad want you to?"

He shrugged, "It's what Sasuke wants. As long as our father has one of us to take his place, he will be fine."

"He wants _you_ to fill his place. What do you want to do, instead?"

"I can become the clan leader without leading the Police Force. It would open up more time for me to look after the Uchiha's interests on a more personal level."

"So, you're going to leave that to Sasuke?" I guess the two of you could make a good team for your clan."

Itachi did everything his father had ever asked of him - he became a shinobi, worked hard in preparation to become the clan leader, put the Uchiha's interests before his own, joined ANBU - everything. That he was now adamant in his own choice struck her as strange. He loved his little brother and it made sense that he would want the boy to achieve his own dreams, but there was something else to the situation that he was keeping from her.

"Is everything okay with you and your dad?"

"Everything is fine."

"Of course it is." She crossed her arms and squinted at him. "I guess if I manage to get recruited, I could look after Sasuke for you a bit."

They lapsed into silence again.

_Itachi's the only reason I even wanted to join..._

"You might not be as welcomed in their ranks as you've been led to believe."

She blinked and eyed him, curiously, "Yeah?"

"My clan is very proud. They are set in their ways and more often than not, they are blind to anything or anyone that doesn't conform to their set of beliefs and standards."

She frowned and picked at a loose string on her towel, "I know that it would be different for me and harder. I fully expect to be looked down on for not being as skilled or talented."

"Being born an Uchiha does not mean one is born better than anyone else. Natural talent will only take you so far. Perseverance and hard work prove to be the more valuable traits. Pride can easily hide that truth. Just as it can blind people so completely that they can no longer see reality." Itachi stared into the water as he spoke. "They might never see your true worth, no matter how hard you try to show them. They refuse to see what they do not want to see."

Arashi chewed on her lip. That was the most negative thing he had ever said to her about the Uchiha. Everyone knew they were proud, but his statement of them being blinded by it was new.

She knew there was something about Fugaku's offer that did not sit well with her. She knew that there was a hook behind the bait - but now it struck her that the bait was not for her. Did Fugaku want to use her as added leverage to pressure Itachi into following in his footsteps completely? With all of the pieces fitting together, she had a feeling that she was nothing more than an attempt by Fugaku to add more incentive for Itachi to do what he wanted him to.

She chewed on her lips.

_Tense, secretive, exhausted, irritable, displeased with his clan, something up with his dad - oh yeah, something's wrong._ She shrugged, "Out of the Uchiha, I think your opinion is the only one that matters to me."

His eyebrows rose in mild surprise - he had seen her fidget anxiously near his father since she was six.

"I mean, I don't want them thinking badly of me," she shifted, nervously. "But, I find myself wondering what it will be like when you're in charge. I do care about your parents, Sasuke, Shisui, and everyone who is still nice to me, because they've come to feel like a second family to me, but you're different from all of them. I care for them because I care for you."

It was a half-confession of sorts.

His lips formed a line and he continued to stare into the water.

Arashi's heart lurched. _Did I say the wrong thing?_

A full moment passed before he replied with a simple, "I know."

It was not a negative reaction to what she had to say, but it left her wanting to know more. She wanted to know his opinions and his deeper thoughts on the matter, but she knew she would not get it out of him.

Silence pressed in on them again.

_I hate this. Why can't this be easy?_

Arashi gathered her nerves together and ran a thumb over his tear duct line and down his cheek. She remembered when they were younger and the creases of his face were not as prominent from exhaustion. They made him look much older than he really was.

_I wish I could take all of this from him. I wish he would let me help him shoulder some of the weight of whatever has him like this._

A soft sigh passed through his lips and she pulled her hand back.

The sudden absence of her touch pulled his gaze back to her, "This was thoughtful of you."

"I still can't believe Sandaime-sama played along with it, but I couldn't think of a better way to make you take a break. That's not healthy, you know."

The corners of his mouth quirked up, slightly, "I guess it couldn't be helped. What chance did I have with the two of you conspiring against me?"

"Conspiring _for_ you!" She laughed.

* * *

Arashi was sad to leave Yoji. Sukai served as quick transportation and it would not take him long to get them back to Konoha. They intended to drop Itachi off outside of the village so that he could return at a different time to keep his clan from being suspicious. The only proof of their adventure was the pictures she had hidden in her pack.

She glanced at him again and frowned. He seemed a little more rested than he had before, but another day or two would have been even better. What bothered her more than the tired lines of his face was the distance in his eyes as he stared unseeingly in thought.

"So, I'm not losing you?"

He regarded her in a way that made her feel like he was looking through her, "No. Even if we walk very different paths in life and even if we're unable to be together for long stretches of time, remember that we're both working toward the greater good of our village and that keeps us connected."

She snorted and shook her head, "The Will of Fire."

* * *

And that's it for chapter 26. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter at all. I think I've just ruined this whole thing and I was so excited to write it. xD ahhhh! If anyone has any opinions, criticisms, suggestions - feel free to share them in a review. All feedback is appreciated.

* * *

**Juliedoo**: I'm starting to think I capable of writing only awkward characters and awkward situations. Sigh. It makes me happy that you like Arashi as a character. I feel like she's come quite a way from when she was that six year old girl I started writing on a whim one night.

I'm hoping to focus a bit on a more subtle mission soon, but we'll see how it all works out as the story progresses. Espionage is fun, but there isn't much more to go for part 2. xD I've been juggling a few things around to make some more room for it, because that's an aspect I sorely wished had more focus in canon.

Thank you for your reviews! I always love them. :)

**Windschatten**: I've read too many fanfictions where all of the male characters develop feelings for the main female OC. None of that here. xD Naomi will end up getting a bit more focus through part 3 and 4. I really look forward into delving into her character a bit more than just the occasional catty remark here and there.

Itachi is a character that I don't feel comfortable speaking for. I'll write scenes for him, but I don't want to come out and say what he might be really thinking. It's totally up to a reader's interpretation for a lot of it, although I do plan on answering some questions as time goes on.

Thank you for this review and I hope it lives up to your expectations even if it's just a little bit. :D

**Misora Asuka**: xD I'm glad that you like Kazika. I'm wanting to slowly introduce him into the story and eventually give him a little more focus. He might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but he IS sneaky, so it makes him fun to write. I had fun mentioning the canon characters, even if it was just in passing.

You'll just have to wait to see how she acts after the massacre. It does change who she is a bit. :)

Thank you for the review! I really appreciate it!


	27. Suicide

**Chapter 27: Suicide**

I am so sorry about how long it took for me to get this chapter done. I've had so much going on in my life. Dx But here it is, and it was longer than I first thought it was going to be. I would like to thank everyone for reading, following, and marked this as a favorite fanfic. You're all lovely! :D Please look over any typos.

Also, I'd like to extend a special thank you to **Windschatten**. Her fanfiction, **The Tale of Two Leaves**, is very good. I've recommended it several times and I will continue to recommend it, because it gets better with every chapter. :D

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Things start to get heavy when Uchiha Shisui is found dead.

* * *

**Song**: Tori Amos - Smokey Joe (I don't know why, but this song was one of the few things that helped me write this chapter).

* * *

**Chapter 27**

_ What is the connection between the spirit and the body? Is it similar to the link between the chakra system and the vascular system? Chakra is the result of both the physical and the spiritual, so if I can design something that can affect the chakra system - in a way that does not inhibit, but supports and promotes - then maybe I could design a jutsu that increases someone's endurance and chakra pool? Maybe if I follow the trigger release of the Fuin Shugotenshi's fuinjutsu and pair it with some sort of medical ninjutsu, I can increase a body's natural process of recovering chakra? Maybe I could even make the seal transfer and convert some of the chakra into the Fuin Shugotenshi so that it can be self sufficient without having to be re-applied. If I could do that... Then who knows what else I could do?_

Arashi looked at the stack of medical books in front of her. This was going to be a huge commitment. It took almost a year to get an incomplete form of her first project.

_ I'm going to die a virgin._

* * *

Naomi hummed and flitted around her home, cleaning. She was sure to take at least one day off from her business a week in order to give herself some time to do other things - which turned into more time being thrown at her never ending war against dust. The woman was a perfectionist. She liked her business in order, everything in place, her eyebrows on-point, her makeup perfect, her clothes coordinated, and her home immaculate.

A knock at the door pulled her attention away from the dust settled on top of her kitchen's cabinets. She stepped down from the chair she was balanced on, slid it back to the table, and went to see who was visiting. A list of the clients most likely to visit her home ran through her head as she readjusted the bun that held her hair out of her face - she did not want to look messy in front of anyone - especially a customer.

When she opened the door, she was greeted by the grim faces of three Police Force officers.

"Can I help you?" She asked; hesitantly, her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

The one closest to her answered with a question of his own, "Where is Ran Arashi?"

"Oh? Why?"

"We need to ask her a few questions."

Naomi's lips stretched into a thin line. She did not like the tone of his voice or any of their stances. It was not every day she opened her door to find the Police Force lurking outside her home.

She stood at her full height and met his glare with one of her own, "She is upstairs, Uchiha-san, but before you speak to her, I demand to know why. She's just fourteen and I'm protective of my children."

"It's concerning the death of Uchiha Shisui."

Naomi knew that name. Arashi had mentioned it a few times, and so had Mikoto when she would make a point to speak to the Uchiha woman - which it occurred to her now that it had been a long time since they last spoke to each other.

She took a step back, "What? What happened?"

"So far it appears to be suicide."

"Then why do you need my daughter?"

"Just for a few questions," was his short response. "It won't take long."

There was something about the entire situation that let the woman know that there was a lot more going on.

"Are you investigating her?" Her voice shook with horror. "If it's a suicide, why would you need to question my baby?"

Naomi found herself staring at three sets of Sharingan, but she refused to back down. The two officers that were keeping their distance uncrossed their arms and took a few steps forward.

"I'm sure you'd rather this be peaceful-"

"Mom? What's going on?"

Arashi rubbed at her eyes and slid her glasses back onto her face. The skin on her right cheek was bright red from falling asleep on books and pencils. A breath hissed through Naomi's teeth.

The kunoichi squinted at the Uchiha leering in at her, "Inabi-san?"

She recognized the three of them as Inabi, Tekka, and Yashiro. Each of them were members of the Uchiha clan, as well as a part of the Police Force.

"We need to talk, Arashi." Inabi stated.

"Over what?"

"Uchiha Shisui's death. We need you to come with us to the headquarters to answer a few questions."

A chill ran down Arashi's spine.

_What? This - this can't be real._

* * *

"I was in the Hokage's library that evening and then I went home."

She was in shock. She was currently sitting in a room with two of the three Uchiha that escorted her, trying to process what was going on. The harsh lights beaming down made everything seem like a bad dream. She held onto the edge of the table that separated her from Inabi and Tekka, seeking something that would keep her grounded.

The last time she saw Shisui, he had been tired. It was the same tired expression that was often on Itachi's face. Now Shisui was dead.

"Why would the Third let a kunoichi like _you_ in his library?" Inabi demanded and every word dripped with scorn.

_Because Itachi passed my notes on to him and he saw potential..?_ She kept the thought to herself and answered with a frown, "If you need proof, ask Sandaime-sama and speak with the ANBU that monitored me."

The interrogator leaned in so close that their noses almost touched, "Watch your tone, girl. I don't have time for a spoiled kid's attitude. Why don't you tell me what I want to know, respectfully, so you can get back to playing with your makeup and clothes while pretending you're a half-decent shinobi?"

The heat of his breath made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, but she refused to flinch away. His words stung. They were meant to incite a rise out of her, but she kept her expression as passive as she could.

Tekka, the quietest of the two, uncrossed his arms and tugged his partner out of her face. Arashi almost released a sigh of relief, but held it in. They did not deserve any reactions from her.

"She's just answering your question. Save the anger in case she stops complying, Inabi."

Inabi shrugged his partner's hand off his shoulder, We _will_ look into it, girl, and if you're lying, things will get rough for you."

"I'm not lying, Inabi-san."

Inabi slammed his fist on the table in front of her. The kunoichi's spine stiffened and all of her instincts yelled for her to fight back, but Tekka put himself between Arashi and the angry Uchiha.

"You need to calm down," Tekka stated, evenly. "Let me talk to her."

He rolled his shoulders in irritation, "You've got five minutes."

Once it was just the two of them, Tekka turned to her and his features softened. Her stomach was in a knot so tight that she wondered if it would ever stop hurting. She knew both of them. They were never close, but she was familiar enough with them that the entire situation cut her deeply.

"I'm sorry about that, Arashi-chan. He's just worked up about this. Shisui was one of our best. I'm sure you're as shell shocked as we were when we found him."

Arashi focused on a series of hairline cracks snaking through the top of the table. She was cut deeply because she knew his kindness was a facade. Inabi might have been rude and angry, but she knew Tekka was the one really after the information. This was joint questioning - a game of friend and foe - a tactic meant to make her put her trust in the _sympathetic_ one.

"It's honestly hard to believe."

"Shisui showed no signs of depression. It was completely unexpected. We watch after each other - we would have noticed something different."

"So, what do you need to know from me? If it was suicide, I mean? Are you trying to figure out why? Did he leave a note or anything?"

She knew they suspected foul play. That was obvious. What she did not understand was where she fit into all of this. There was no way they suspected she was involved in this. If someone murdered Shisui, it would not have been her. She had no motivation, she hardly knew him, and she did not possess the skill to take him down. She did not fit into the equation.

"He did leave something, but the explanation does not add up. Not much escapes these eyes of ours."

They are so obsessed with their kekkei genkai.

The best thing she could do was play along.

"What do you need to know from me? It's not like I see - _saw_ \- him all the time or anything. The last time was a while ago and all I can really say about him is that he looked very tired."

"Did he say anything that seemed _off_ any of the times you brushed into him?"

If she had to describe him, then she would have said that when she first met him he was playful. There was a mischievous streak in him and although it did not often come out, she had seen it firsthand. Comparing his state of being when they first became acquainted to the last times she saw him made her realize he really had changed. The lightheartedness was gone. It was like he was being weighed down by something - but not in a way that was overly obvious or anything indicative of thoughts of suicide.

His conversation with me was always polite and he always kept himself distant. He never said anything out of the way, unless it was to tease me a little. She shook her head, "Other than being tired? No."

Tekka searched her face for a moment. She started to shift in her seat and realized she was stiff. Tension had settled into her muscles. It took more than a grain of self control to resist trying to roll her shoulders to work the tension out, but she did not want her interrogator to think that she was nervous. If he thought she was nervous, then he would think she knew more than she did and he would continue with the lead.

"What of Itachi? Has he seemed different lately?"

Revelation shot through her like ice in her veins.

The only connection she had with Shisui was Itachi. The only times she ever saw him was when she was with Itachi. He was the closest person to Shisui. This was not about her at all.

They were after Itachi.

"I barely get to see him."

Tekka nodded, but the motion felt rehearsed, "But when you have gotten to see him?"

Her mouth was suddenly dry, "He just stays really busy, you know? Works really hard, doesn't get enough rest."

His mouth thinned into a line.

"I don't really know what to tell you."

"Anything could be helpful. If Shisui confided in Itachi and then he mentioned anything to you, then maybe we could piece together why this happened."

Not even for one second did they believe this was a suicide. She was certain of that. This was not an attempt to figure out why Shisui took his own life. It was to gain any information they could find to use against Itachi.

Her blood went from ice to boiling hot - the Itachi she knew would not murder his best friend.

Arashi followed the hairline cracks in the table and tried to mentally piece together patterns. She needed to give herself a moment. First off, she needed to collect her thoughts. Secondly, she needed to project the appearance of trying to recall anything suspicious concerning her friend. Most importantly, she needed to get her anger in check before she responded.

"He never mentioned anything that would play into this."

Tekka crossed his arms once again, "Are you sure? I can understand if all of this is overwhelming. Our time is almost up and Inabi will come back in to ask his own questions. He's been so impassioned about this, I can't guarantee he won't go overboard with it."

It was an underhanded threat in an attempt to goad her into confiding with him before the more aggressive partner took control of the questioning again.

Her anger arced into being white hot. It blinded her for a second until her senses adjusted and its illumination brought her into a new perspective. This was their strategy, their game. Their minds were already set on Itachi being guilty of the crime. In their eyes, she was a way to criminalize him and push their own agenda.

Arashi wondered for a few seconds if they forgot who her sensei was. She knew how to play mind games, too. When both sides were well aware of the rules and tricks, it made the ordeal much less profitable for the interrogators. She would see how determined they were after they realized there was never anything to learn from her.

"Let him ask his questions and I'll answer to the best of my abilities. I have nothing to hide."

Tekka leaned against the wall, "Alright."

When Inabi entered the room, the atmosphere changed. Without even looking at him, she knew he was on a war path. She might not have been intimately familiar with his signature, but she could recognize the flow of a person's chakra well enough to gauge moods.

Her lips thinned into a hard line.

Their signatures and the signatures of every Uchiha in that building felt dark. It left a bad taste in her mouth. It had been years when she first noticed something was off with the signatures of their clan, but she was never able to explain why. When she considered what might play a role in it, she always drew a blank. She would tell herself that it was a figment of her imagination, but now she could not deny what her senses screamed at her.

There was something wrong with the Uchiha clan.

"You ready to answer some questions, little girl?" Inabi spat the words from his mouth like they were bitter.

Is he really going to act like I don't realize he listened to the whole conversation? She regarded him with a calm expression, "Of course."

"You know, I get it. You admire our clan and you liked to hang around with two of our most promising. It makes sense that you'd try to weasel your way in, get in good with the clan leader's son, be on friendly terms with his best friend. Makes sense that you'd keep their secrets, too."

"Yes, I'm friends with him and I was an acquaintance with Shisui-san, but that was where it began and ended. There were no ulterior motives-"

Inabi slammed his hand on the table again - she decided he was the reason why it was riddled with cracks - and he leaned in close, "Itachi isn't the kind of kid that makes friends. Out of all the people that would have offered him companionship or camaraderie, he bonded only to Shisui and to _you_ for whatever reason. I want to know that reason. Why did he keep you around?"

"You know, that's something I wondered, too." She replied, innocently. "Maybe you should ask him? I never really thought to question my childhood friend as to why he was still my friend and what his motives were for not deciding one day I wasn't worth his time."

Inabi lowered his voice to a harsh whisper, "You think you're funny, huh?"

"He left a suicide letter or note, right? What did Shisui say? What makes you think whatever he said wasn't the truth?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here!"

"Yes, you are, but I think if you're so suspicious over what you seem to believe Itachi shared with me, you should go ask him." She replied. "Or maybe run it by Fugaku-san. I'm sure as your leader, in both the clan and in the Police Force, that he'd be interested in the focus you all have on his son."

He grabbed her scarf and jerked her partially across the table, "I think you need to re-evaluate your position in all of this!"

Arashi pulled away from him, shaking with rage, but slid back into her seat without openly acknowledging his action. It was a part of his role in the Friend and Foe strategy. Her neck hurt now, but there was no serious damage.

Both of the Uchiha stared her down with their Sharingan activated.

Does it flip on when they're irritated without them even realizing it or have they practiced using their eyes as intimidation for so long that it just sort of happens now?

Chakra from Tekka washed over her and her spine stiffened.

A genjutsu? They're seriously using genjutsu on me? I don't even have the information they want to know, the freaking idiots!

It was a basic technique, meant to lower inhibitions.

Arashi could choose to resist it or play along with their tactics. If she chose to resist, they would assume she possibly knew something that she was actively fighting to not share. If she went along with it and shared what she thought of the situation while they knew the jutsu was active, then there was a chance they would concede that she did not have the knowledge they wanted.

Screw it. I've spent my whole life respecting and admiring this damn clan because I cared for Itachi. They really think I'm going to just say whatever they want so they can go after him right after his best friend died? No way in hell.

"I know you're hiding something," Inabi stated.

The genjutsu pulled her into the mild hypnotic state with a gentle tug. The details in the room became bolder and more refined - to an intimidating degree. It was like she was forced into a state of anxious, heightened awareness. She could hear a clock ticking - except there was no clock in the room - and each tick jolted through her. The ire that she was already struggling to keep in check bubbled up again and she had to push it back down. The line between what was appropriate to say and what was inappropriate blurred. A voice in the back of her mind told her she needed to be careful - that even a basic genjutsu would cause problems if not handled correctly.

The experience was fascinating to her. If she could not sense the chakra washing over her own and if she did not expect a tactic like this, she might not have noticed right off. The one thing she did not like about it was the ticking from the nonexistent clock. Each stroke was louder than the one before and it was accompanied by an increasingly firm jolt through her nerves.

She waited until the jutsu was in full effect when she responded, "Conviction, huh? You're going after a guy that's dedicated his whole life to your clan and you're acting like you have all the conviction in the world to do so."

The lines of his face hardened, but he did not respond. A reduction of inhibitions often led to an outpouring of anger - and with that anger often came leads.

"You guys are so proud of your clan, but right now you're determined to pin a crime on one of your own. Why? The Itachi I know wouldn't have killed his best friend. Shisui was like a brother to him."

He looked at her like he wanted to go through her, "I don't appreciate your tone."

"I don't appreciate you scaring my mother or pulling me here, and I really don't appreciate how you're trying to get me to divulge information that doesn't even exist," she hissed.

Inabi took a step forward, but Tekka pulled him back.

"We're just trying to piece together why this happened," Tekka insisted. "We're not trying to criminalize Itachi or pin anything on him."

Arashi frowned, "I'm not half as stupid as you think I am."

Inabi's jaw clenched and unclenched in anger, "I'm done with this girl's disrespect! I have better things to do with my time-"

"We've practically watched this girl grow up." Tekka interrupted his partner to point out. "We shouldn't be so hard on her. She's just confused and worked up over the situation."

Once again, Tekka took the stance of sympathizer and friend. It might have been a good routine, if they were less obvious. Inabi was _irrationally_ angry, while the other was far too sympathetic as an Uchiha taking up for a kunoichi outside of his clan. She was not stupid. She was all too aware of the double bladed prejudice between Konoha and the Uchiha. While anyone outside of that clan thought they were too proud and their methods too extreme, the Uchiha took the brunt of those thoughts and let it exacerbate any issue they had with non clan members. Itachi was a rarity among them.

"I guess you did watch me grow up, huh?" She adjusted her glasses before she continued, "But why let that make you hesitate now? At some point, the majority of your clan started being cold to me, despite any familiarity there. Maybe it's because I got a bit older and I was still sticking around. I guess it's harder to be rude to a small child, right?"

When had Itachi earned scorn from his own family? What was happening that they had not shared with her? How was he holding up after his friend was found dead? Why would Shisui take his own life? What was so off with the note and the situation that they were determined to put charges against Itachi?

What right did they even have investigating a member of ANBU?

Questions flooded through her mind at such a rate she felt like she was drowning. The last place she wanted to be was there. The ticking continued to get worse until she was on the verge of a migraine and the frustration fueled by the situation mounted with each moment.

The severity of it almost distracted her from a collection of signatures approaching the HQ - one of which belonged to Morino Ibiki.

_I don't even know what's going on anymore._

She blinked a few times and peered at her interrogator's lips. It occurred to her that she missed what they had been saying.

Arashi shook her head, "Whatever you think, Itachi's innocent. He wouldn't have hurt his friend and I have no idea why Shisui would have killed himself. What you're trying to coax out of me? It doesn't exist."

The two Uchiha exchanged a look - they had gotten nowhere with their questioning. All of her reactions and answers did nothing to back their case.

There was a firm knock at the door.

"We're busy in here!" Inabi spat.

The door slammed open to reveal Ibiki and two masked ANBU at each of his sides. The two Uchiha tensed and took a step back as the Black Ops entered the room.

"This interrogation is over, boys." Ibiki pinned each of them with a brief, but intense look. "Hope you had your fun, because now we're taking over this portion of the investigation."

One of the masked ANBU extended his hand to Tekka, "The tape, please."

The Uchiha looked at him, flippantly, but dug a voice recorder out of a pocket and handed it over.

_Of course. Why wouldn't they record the entire exchange for future reference?_

Ibiki made a handseal next to Arashi and broke the genjutsu. All at once, her head rushed as the ticking ended and the room returned to its former appearance.

"Thank you, Sensei." She whispered.

He nodded once and turned his attention back to Inabi, "ANBU will be looking into Uchiha Shisui's death. It would do you well to remember that only we can investigate members of our organization. Over stepping your boundaries would be unwise."

The Uchiha's eyes flashed with anger, but he nodded, "Understood."

"Good. I'll be taking the girl for further questioning."

Arashi's heart thrashed against her ribs, "Wait? What?"

The other masked ANBU grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, "It shouldn't take long, Arashi-san."

_Oh, kami._

* * *

Arashi sat in Ibiki's interrogation room with her heart in her throat. The recording of the Police Force's attempt at questioning her played and it felt like she was listening to someone else answer in her place. It felt surreal to hear her voice echoing in the room as fresh memories of the ordeal flashed through her mind. Ibiki listened to it with a deep frown. The kunoichi was both relieved and terrified that she was now with her Sensei. On one hand, he saved her from the migraine the genjutsu was giving her and got her out of the hands of the Uchiha. Then again, if ANBU was getting involved, it implied that this was even more serious than she thought before.

Once the recording ended, her Sensei leaned back in his chair and regarded her, "Well? Do you have anything to say?"

"I stand by what I said."

"What do you know of the situation?"

She shrugged, "Really? They hardly told me anything. I was informed that it was an apparent suicide, but the way they were dogging me for information makes me think they suspect murder."

"That's obvious."

"Sensei?" She stared at her lap and whispered, "What do you think? Do you think it's a suicide or do you think Itachi's guilty?"

"I can't divulge a lot of information about any of this."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry for asking. I guess I'm just a bit shaken up from all of this."

They were quiet for a few seconds. Arashi got the same feeling that he was taking her apart and piecing her back together again, just as he had when they first met.

"By all appearances, it was suicide." Ibiki finally stated. "If you want to look farther into it, I'm sure you could examine the body or ask the medical staff that already had a look at him."

Arashi's mouth went dry, "I don't think I want to see Shisui like that."

"You've seen bodies before."

"Yeah, but I knew this guy and I think I'd rather remember him before all of - all of this."

Ibiki nodded, "It's your decision."

Arashi forced herself to meet her Sensei's gaze, "What's going to happen?"

"We'll continue our investigation, but so far it seems like the case is already closed. By all appearances it was a suicide, we have no driving motivation for someone inside the village to be responsible, and the handwriting of the note checks out."

"So, you guys are just going by protocol? I mean, there's always a chance of foul play, but if there was no motivation inside the village, then maybe it could have been enemies he made outside the village, right?"

"He was well known," he replied. "We should have detected any breaches in our security, but there is always a chance."

Arashi chewed on her lips for a few seconds as she mulled it over, "But what about the Police Force? They've already made up their minds about this. It's almost like an agenda to them or something. There's a lot of concerns for me bundled up in this-"

"-Because they can't touch him, they're after you," he finished her thought. "You don't have the strict rules and regulations keeping them from you that Itachi can rely on right now."

"Basically," she rubbed her temples. "What should I do, Sensei? I have a feeling they're not going to just drop this after you showed up and escorted me out of their hands."

"Continue your daily activities. Don't let them know when they're shaking your nerve and keep your family informed. Chances are they'll keep pressuring you to see if they can get a sort of confession out of you or any piece of information they can use to press their case. When they can no longer intimidate you, they will begin to intimidate your mother and your brother."

Her throat tightened, "Is there anything I can do about it?"

"Well, it shouldn't amount to much in regards to your family. If anything, they'll just make their presence known and be around more than usual. A few nasty remarks and accusations aren't unbearable."

She nodded, "Okay. What of my dad?"

"Ookami can handle himself. Your mother is a civilian and your brother is a child. They're the easy targets."

"Yeah, they are."

"Do you think Itachi could be guilty?"

"Of course not!" she snapped.

He chuckled, "In this game of theirs, your opinion of the truth doesn't matter. You've said it yourself, they have an agenda. Don't let them make you mad, but use your insistence and determination to keep them from manipulating you."

"What's the worst I should expect from them, Sensei? Be honest with me. I want to do whatever I can to reduce the backlash to my family and anything they can try to use against my friend. I mean, there's really no case for them to work on, but since they're so determined, I'm afraid they'd go as far as planting something. I - I just don't know. This is a first for me."

"Dispose of anything they can possibly use to link you to their case. They've been known to be extreme in the past, although those are typically isolated occurrences. It's not often they go after one of their own, so be prepared for attempts of blackmail and their intentional misconstruing of information. Don't be surprised if they search your home."

"Um, wow." She chewed on her lips. "I never realized how vicious they could be. They've always sort of felt like a second family to me."

"Not all of the complaints about the Police Force are unfounded."

"Clearly," she replied, dryly. "What sorts of things do you think they'd look for if they go through with searching my home?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? I'm not asking you to help me get away with a crime or to be an assistant. I just don't want them finding anything that they will 'misconstrue' and use as a reason to continue harassing my mom or brother."

"I'll meet you at your home, this evening. We'll go through everything, together, and I'll personally document each item and take things to hold until after the investigation. That way, I'm not withholding information from ANBU's look into this case and we're edging the Police Force out a little more."

"Thank you," she breathed out with a sigh of relief.

"I'd better not find anything incriminating."

"You have no idea how boring my life _really_ is. There's nothing exciting like that to find."

* * *

Arashi's knees shook as she walked out of the Intelligence Division's HQ. It was a completely different experience to be escorted there like a suspect for questioning, instead of going in for a friendly visit with her Sensei. The memories of the few interrogations he let her squad watch were of no comfort. He made Inabi and Tekka look like the lowest form of novices.

_I wonder what Fugaku thinks of this whole situation? Surely, he knows that they suspect Itachi? Does he suspect him, too? What's really going on with them?_

Every ounce of common sense she had told her to stay away and let the dust settle on its own, but she wanted to check on her friend. She wanted answers from Fugaku and she wanted to offer condolences to Itachi. From the treatment she received, she doubted anyone had offered a comforting shoulder to him over his friend.

Instead, he received accusations.

_It makes me sick._

Despite the voice of reason that pleaded with her to reconsider, she decided she was going to visit the Uchiha compound.

_I'm going to end up in prison._

Just as she expected, her reception in the compound was colder than ever. The few glances she did receive lacked any form of friendliness. She expected no less. They were a tight knit clan and she assumed they all shared the same suspicions.

Arashi steeled her nerves and walked through the streets, her sights set on Itachi's home. She needed to see him, to check on how he was doing - not that she believed he would confide anything with her. She doubted he would talk about it at all, but she needed to show him that she cared, even if no one else did.

She always imagined, as a child, that the Uchiha were iconic as being the flames that danced behind the leaves in Konoha. Their natural affinities were almost always fire. Beyond that, their signatures were strong. They often stood out to her senses before anyone else's when she scanned her surroundings.

Now, they felt colder than ever.

There was a darkness that stood out more and more as she explored the sensations around her. Only a few of the clan members lacked it. From what she could tell, Itachi and Sasuke fell into the minority.

"What are you doing? Are you daydreaming or something?"

She blinked - she was already in front of her destination and Sasuke was peering out at her through the door with a confused expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

He crossed his arms, "You're always distracted when you visit."

"Uh, yeah, a lot on my mind. Where's Itachi?"

The boy's expression shifted and his tone was uncertain as he replied, "He's in his room."

"How's he holding up over Shisui?"

Sasuke shifted his weight between his feet and looked away, "Okay, I guess. Brother and Dad aren't getting along right now. Some stuff happened yesterday."

_Just great. I guess things got a little rough between them._ She knelt in front of him, "Did they accuse him of anything?"

The boy took a step back and his expression hardened, "Maybe. Why?"

"No reason. I just want to check on him."

"My brother didn't do it."

"I know. Can I come in?"

"Yeah." The boy stepped to the side, "I'm going to go train."

"Alright, be safe, Sasuke-kun."

She stepped inside and removed her boots.

"Arashi?"

She looked over her shoulder at the boy. He watched her with uncertainty in his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Is everything going to be okay?"

"Of course it is. I'm sure of it."

A grin tugged at his lips before he turned away to leave.

She hated that it felt like a lie as soon as the words passed through her lips.

_Alright, I need to do this and get home to meet Ibiki. Mom's probably freaking out right now._

Arashi could sense Mikoto in the kitchen, preparing food. There was a nervous energy about her signature that she had felt in her own mother before - the kind of nervousness that spawned from worry for a child. She wondered if she should offer friendly conversation to the woman, but decided against it. Mikoto was a Jounin and would keep her worries to herself without outwardly showing any sign of stress if Arashi initiating a conversation with her.

_I don't even know what to say to her. I'll let her sort of work it out on her own or something._

Fugaku, on the other hand, was going to talk to her - whether he wanted to or not. She assumed he knew about their intentions to question her and she wanted to gauge how much tension there was between Itachi and his father. She knew her friend would show nothing, so her best chance of delving deeper into the situation without direct questions would be Fugaku.

She found the clan leader staring into his koi pond. His signature flowed with the same nervous energy as Mikoto's did.

"I hope you don't mind me visiting for a little bit this evening, Fugaku-san."

He answered without looking at her, "You're a very determined girl."

For a second, she was unsure of how she should answer.

"I guess I am," she replied. "Why the observation?"

He crossed his arms and turned to face her, "If you're here to see Itachi, he's in his room."

"Yeah, I'm here to see him, but I wanted to talk to you, first. I was questioned by your men earlier. It was an unpleasant way to find out about Shisui's death."

His eyebrows rose, "What?"

"You do realize they're after your son, right?"

He was silent for a moment, "Don't concern yourself with this."

Her lips thinned into a line, "I'm sorry, but there's no way I couldn't be concerned. I was taken from my home, interrogated - poorly, but still - and my dearest friend is being accused of murdering his best friend. That's not something I can just shrug off and pay no attention to."

Deep rooted irritation passed over his face, "I see."

"I want to know if you're on his side. I want to know if you sent them to question me. I'm beyond certain that Itachi is innocent and I think you should be, too."

"Tensions are high right now and my men are capable of acting on their own and making their own decisions. It was their decision to question you." He replied. "Itachi's my boy and he will always have my support."

_He has your support, but you won't openly confess to thinking he's innocent?_ That detail drove into her like a nail. "I see."

She could not imagine being in a situation where ANBU was convinced of her innocence, but her own family was not.

"I have to go speak to my men now." Fugaku looked away and cleared his throat. "He might appreciate your company. I can't speak for him - he's hard to understand, but I _do_ try."

"I'm sure you do."

In truth, she resented him for his lack of faith in his own son.

* * *

Arashi stood in front of her friend's room and swallowed over the lump in her throat. Now that she was there, she was not sure what to say or to do. There were no words that she could think of that would be enough.

_But I can't just stand here forever._

She squared herself, "Itachi? Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

_Okay, here goes._

Itachi sat with his back against a wall and a note in his hand. She slid the door shut behind her, and took a few steps into the room. He glanced up at her once before he returned his attention to the piece of paper in his hand.

Instead of an eloquent speech, the only words she could form were, "I'm sorry."

He shrugged, dejectedly.

Arashi sat next to him and eyed the note, "Is that... is that what he left?"

Itachi nodded, once.

"Can I read it?"

He offered it to her.

_I'm tired of the duties. There is no future for the Uchiha. Or for me. I cannot walk out the path any farther._

The exhaustion that clung to Shisui's face flashed in front of her once again. The tiredness - the same fatigue she saw in Itachi - was poignant enough to weigh her down, as well.

_What does he mean by 'no future for the Uchiha' and being unable to walk out 'the path' anymore?_

She was inclined to think that it was tied to the prejudices in the village, as well as his position in ANBU, but there were things that did not quite add up. It was hard to face distrust because of a kekkei genkai and the separation of skill that came along with it. Being in ANBU was well known to be hard in many ways on a shinobi. Feelings of hopelessness accompanied severe depression, which could link up with his belief of no future. At an initial glance, it seemed simple. If she could not sense that the clan was off and if they were not after Itachi like a witch hunt, then she would have believed the note at face value.

_But, they are after him. They've pinned this on him, without proof. Why?_

She slid an arm around his back and pressed her cheek into his shoulder, "I'm here for you. If you need anything, just let me know."

"You shouldn't be here."

"I know, but I had to check on you. I know you're not ready to talk about all of this right now. You keep things to yourself and I can't even begin to say how frustrating that can be for me when I'm trying to figure you out, but that's who you are and I get it. I just want you to know that I'm here and if I can help it, you won't have to be alone in this."

He leaned his head against hers and they were quiet for a while.

Outwardly, he appeared dejected and the only company he was interested in keeping was his own thoughts. He was a puzzle and she would have been completely lost if she could only perceive the mask he projected for prying eyes. Instead of flaring beautifully, his signature was repressed - he was mourning.

"You should go."

She frowned, "I wish you wouldn't push me away. I want to help you, however I can. Please tell me how."

Itachi pulled away from her, "You are always mindful of me, but you have other people to consider. Wait for everything to calm down. I don't want to drag you into this."

She began to protest, "But..."

"Please, Arashi. Do this for me. If you want to help me, then keep yourself out of this."

She stared at him.

This entire situation was wrong. There wasn't a single detail she could think of that redeemed it, in any way. She came to offer support and was pushed away. She could tell he was in pain, but there was nothing she could do.

She wanted to punch a wall.

Instead, she stood and took a step back, "Alright. If you need to be alone to sort through this, then I'll leave you to it, but if you want to talk or if you need to hear someone talk about anything but this, you know where to find me. I am for you, no matter what and I know you're innocent."

* * *

When Arashi made it home, she found her mother pacing in front of the door.

"First the Police Force and now ANBU?" Naomi looked like she was ready to tear her hair out. "Arashi, what's going on?"

"Um," she squinted toward Ibiki's signature, upstairs, "That's just my Sensei, Mom. Did he talk to you about what's going on?"

"I think, so, but, well.. he's a big, scary man, isn't he?"

"Erm. Yeah. He's the head of Torture and Interrogation."

"What."

"Did I forget to mention that?"

Naomi nodded, slowly.

"Oh, well, I'd better go up there really quick."

Arashi's room was the most girly room Ibiki had ever been in. There were flowers everywhere, a closet packed full of clothing - of which he had not seen her wear even a fraction of the bulk - a collection of shoes, bottles of perfume on almost every surface, ribbons tied here and there, an inventory of makeup, a giant patchwork cat, and a bookshelf primarily stocked with cheap romance novels.

He stood in the center of the room with a clipboard as he made a list of what he saw and what he intended to confiscate.

Arashi peered in at him, "Uh, hey."

"You went to see Itachi?" He asked without looking up from the list he was making.

"Yeah."

"Don't do that again for a while. Don't be stupid. I trained you to have better sense than that."

She winced, "Okay. Sorry."

"Well, help me with this, girl. I'd like to get some sleep tonight."

_When he says it like that, he makes me feel like a hoarder._

Arashi walked over to her desk and began to look through everything. The locks of hair she had stored in a drawer would have to be sealed away and hidden. She did not want them to think she had a weird fetish if they found them.

_Ugh, and if they did a DNA test and figured out some of the hair belongs to Itachi... I think I'd follow Shisui's example and kill myself._

Her eyes came across the pictures of herself and Itachi. She looked terrible in each, but it incited only fond emotions. When she looked at him, she saw perfection.

_I have to tell him how I feel._

Arashi looked away from the photos.

_I mean, even if I'm the only one that has these kinds of feelings, I need to get them out there so I can deal with them._

She had a distinct feeling that rejection was the only thing that waited for her.

* * *

And that's it for chapter 27! I'm sorry about how long this took and I apologize if there's a lot of typos.

If you have any suggestions, criticisms, opinions, etc - share them in a review! I love all forms of feedback. :)

* * *

**Llyrica** \- I'm glad you've liked it up to this point! I've worked really hard at developing their friendship and then transitioning them into a friendship-but-not friendzone type of thing. Keeping canon characters as in-character as possible is a goal of mine, even if I don't always achieve it. :)

I hope that you like this chapter and the next ones to come. Thank you for reviewing! It is greatly appreciated. :D

**Windschatten**: :D It makes me happy that you liked the chapter that much. It was very iffy about it and the fluff therein, but I'm always iffy about stuff like that.

Itachi really is a puzzle that's not meant to be completely figured out. He's not a normal boy and that makes him both fascinating and extremely frustrating, at the same time. I think it's why I like him so much. He actions, and lack of actions, speak for him. He's the silent type that is defined more by subtleties than what he actually says. xD He lies with his words and he speaks only a fraction of what he thinks!

I think Arashi's going to end up with a house full of cats. *cough*

Thank you for the review! I always look forward to yours because of the thought you put into them. :)

**Misora Asuka**: hahaha I completely agree with you. He is a very frustrating character, but that's exactly why he's such an interesting character.

I do not enjoy fanfictions that delve too deeply into what the writer thinks Itachi is thinking. I believe he's meant to be a mystery. No one really understood him and I think that's something that should bleed into fanfiction, as well. :) And as for intimate moments, you'll just have to wait and see! There's not much more to go for part 2!

Kakashi and Arashi interactions were the reason I wanted to write this fanfiction in the first place. *cough* The plans that I have... I'm so close, but it feels so far away. xD I'm glad that you're looking forward to Part 3! Soon (relatively)!

Thank you for the review!

**Juliedoo**: Your reviews always make me smile and laugh. xD Who knows? Maybe one of these chapters, she'll punch a hole through a wall in frustration and screech, "JUST TALK TO ME, ALREADY!" Sadly, I don't want her to have a freak out session. At least not yet. From her perspective, it would just push him even farther away.

Itachi has an immensely good heart. His intentions are good, but his people skills aren't the best. His own father never understood him. He never pursued friendships. The only reason he and Arashi are friends is because she's been too determined to let him go. At this point, anyway.

Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter (it took me way longer to write it than I thought it would). Dx


	28. Virga

**Chapter 28: Virga**

Wow. This took me much longer to write than I thought it would and it ended up being a bit of a monster of a chapter. It does jump around a bit to skip through time and I hope it's not too choppy or rushed in places. I apologize for any typos I've missed and I'd like to thank everyone that reads, favorites, follows, and reviews. I appreciate it!

Virga is rain that evaporates before it reaches the ground.

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Tension continues to breed worry and Arashi is left feeling powerless_.

* * *

**Song:** Radiohead - Where I End and You Begin

* * *

**Chapter 28**

Arashi's room felt empty.

Every morning her eyes would snap open and she would sit up, a sensation of something being wrong pulling her from her sleep. Then, she would sigh as memories came back to her of Ibiki confiscating her most cherished possessions - the gifts from her thoughtful, albeit frustrating friend. There were still girly decorations, her clothes, the cheap romance novels her mother continued to smuggle into her room, and the tacky floral curtains and blanket, but she could only focus on the things that were taken.

The photo album she kept that had a handful of pictures of them together, all evidence of their venture together in Yoji, the lock of hair - Ibiki gave her a strange look over _that_ \- and various knickknacks the boy had given her over the years of their friendship.

Some of the things he took did not make sense to her. At first. Now she realized that he had taken just enough to make it clear to the Police Force that any link between herself and Itachi was guarded in an evidence storage room in the Intelligence Division. As much as it bothered her to not have the silly ribbons, the perfumes she sometimes wore, the pictures, and various other mementos, she knew Ibiki's precautions had already paid off.

Her room had been searched not only once, but _twice_ since. The invasion of her home proved to tarnish the sense of security that her family once enjoyed. It irked her, but there was a tinge of satisfaction when they failed to find anything. In fact, one of the only things they cited as being a reason to keep an eye on her was because she went to visit Itachi the evening after she found out about Shisui.

_I guess it was kinda dumb of me to contact him that way when it was still so fresh._

Arashi did not consider the repercussions of visiting him at that point. She was not thinking clearly and she let her emotions take control when she should have used her head. The truth was that she had more than just herself to consider. Just as her Sensei had warned her, they had been more present, made themselves known, and then taken an interest in her mother and brother. Arashi was inclined to believe that Fugaku was not involved and that his men were acting on their own accord, but nothing was severe enough for her to report them in hopes of actions being taken to get them to leave her family alone. It was a nasty situation.

She ran a hand through her hair.

All of this was meant to alienate Itachi. Shisui was dead, the clan did not trust him, and now she was forced to keep a distance. Even now, after time had passed and the drama was not as fresh, he still had not contacted her. She could not fathom why this was happening.

Arashi missed him, dearly.

Their friendship over the years was full of an insistence to not lose touch with each other and mutual respect. He asked her to stay away, so she would, but she refused to not check on him. How was she supposed to finally confess to him and get that weight off her chest if she never got to see him? If he continued distancing himself, then she would never have a chance.

Arashi moved over to her desk and began to write. She might not be able to visit him in person, but he said nothing about sending him a note. The kunoichi realized it was still unwise to initiate any sort of contact, but the utter lack of communication between them was killing her.

_I'm still here for you. It's been a while now since we last talked and I've missed you. I'm trying to keep my distance, like you asked me to, but it's hard to not worry. If you ever need someone to talk to about anything or if you ever just need to hear someone talk about stupid, pointless things, you know where to find me. I don't care how much time passes or what happens, this offer will always be open to you._

_ With some luck, this note will reach you and maybe not complicate things any farther. I hope to catch up with you over some dango or something soon!_

Arashi read over the note and took a deep breath. Even if he did not return her feelings, she could not see how it would make the situation any worse. The distance between them was driving her crazy. There had to be something going on to cause this witch hunt and looking back, she could see Itachi's gradual withdrawal from her life. If he turned her down, at least she would never wonder what would have happened if she had been honest.

_Oh, kami, this sucks._

* * *

Kazika was doing well in the Academy.

He was not the top of the class, but neither was he at the bottom. After stabbing himself, he had only gotten his tanto confiscated once and he was able to enjoy his follow students' attention as the tough kid with the cool weapon. He found that there was a slew of advantages that came along with it.

Kazika wished he was as tough as everyone thought he was.

He tried to not focus on that or his growing dislike of the Uchiha. He knew his sister was friends with one of them and had been since before he was born, but some stuff had happened and things were different. His parents used to let him walk home alone, but now he always found either his dad or Arashi waiting for him after class. At first, it embarrassed him because he felt coddled. Now it was the only thing that made him feel safe.

Today, Arashi was the one to walk him home.

She stood next to the tree, looking at the swing that was tied to one of its branches. As soon as he stepped out, her eyes snapped to him and she gestured for him to come to her. To the boy, she always looked distracted - just like their dad. She was always busy, always rushing from place to place, had her nose in a book, or she was busy with work - just like their dad. The recent walks home with Ookami accumulated to be the most he had gotten to see him consecutively in a long time, but that only made him realize how absent his father was. Kazika was not like his sister. He was not cut out to be a medic, therefore, he lacked that connection.

Kazika did not have the same kind of bond with Ookami that Arashi did and the lack thereof ached.

"It's rude to stare," Arashi mumbled.

Kazika made a face at her.

She returned the gesture with an equally ugly expression.

Their standoff lasted only a few moments before a toothy grin signaled the boy's forfeit.

"So, what are we going to do?" Kazika shifted his weight back and forth. "Go home?"

She blinked, "Well, I was going to drop you off and take Naruto for some," she shuddered as the word slid from her mouth, "Ramen."

He crinkled his nose.

"What? Do you want to come along?"

"Mm," he crossed his arms and thought for a moment. "I guess? I haven't gotten to do a lot of training."

Arashi pursed her lips. It was true. Kazika was escorted to and from his classes, every single day. There was little opportunity for him to practice outside of his room.

"Well, I guess we're going to hang out this evening, instead of just crashing at home on the couch." Arashi ruffled his hair. "First, I have to give something to someone."

He squinted up at her, "Who?"

"Nosy much?" She chirped and walked around him. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

The boy continued to squint at his sister's back, but complied.

Arashi slipped inside the Academy. Uchiha Sasuke was her target, since he was a convenient medium in which she could send her note to Itachi. She might not consider herself close to the boy, but he knew her well enough and she hoped that the connection she had with his older brother would ensure his reliability.

She found him as he was leaving class. His dark eyes widened when she stepped in front of him and steered him away from the other children, but he did not complain.

"I need you to do something for me." She whispered.

The young Uchiha frowned and peered up at her, dubiously, "Like what?"

"Would you deliver a note to Itachi for me?"

She held the folded piece of paper out to him. He looked at it for a few seconds before he regarded her again.

"Why? You haven't visited him in a while, have you?"

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Have things been okay at home?"

His shoulders sagged a little.

"See? I don't want to come in and possibly add any more tension than what's already there, but I worry about your brother and I want him to know I'm still here for him. You can read the note, if you want. I just need you to get it to him, without letting anyone else know about it. It could be like a mission and a secret between the two of us."

Hesitantly, he took the note and tucked it away, "I'm just doing this for my brother."

"Then we're on the same page. Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

He shouldered his bag, "I need to go."

"Alright."

Sasuke turned and trotted away, excited to be out of class. He tried to keep up a serious demeanor, but she noticed the conspiratorial glint in his eyes.

_Alright. Time to find Naruto._

Naruto was not in the area. She clicked her tongue. He must have skipped his classes, again. It did not surprise her, but it was displeasing. She wanted him to do well and prosper, and to pick up the slack in his studies, but that required his attendance.

Arashi took a deep breath and sifted through signatures until she located his. Once she had a lock on where he was, she stepped back outside to get her brother. It would not take them long to fetch the Uzumaki and then trek to Ichiraku's - her least favorite place to eat in the entire country.

Kazika walked a step behind her with a toothy grin on his face. She liked getting to see him more and noting how much he enjoyed his studies. Still, she wished he had never decided to walk down the path of becoming a shinobi. She wanted to warn him, to tell him of the things she had been through, but it felt inappropriate, somehow.

Arashi did not want him to know about the hardships she had been through, the scars she carried, or the insecurities she desperately tried to hide.

Instead, she tried to focus on some of the more positive aspects of their situation. Her brother was growing up. He was no longer the chubby baby that liked to blow snot bubbles at her.

Her lips pressed into a thin line.

As always, she could sense two Police Force officers behind them - not close enough to feel like a threat, but she knew that they were aware of her status as a sensor. She wondered if they realized that she could tell that their Sharingan were activated without having to look at them. With how much she had been glared at with that doujutsu, in particular, it did not take long for her to become familiar with the way chakra diverts to the eyes to power them.

* * *

_I despise ramen._

Arashi sat with Kazika on her left side and Naruto on her right. Both boys slurped down the noodles and broth - only taking a breath when they lifted their heads long enough to carry on their broken conversation. She almost felt like a third wheel. The kunoichi was there for the sole purpose of paying for their food and it was obvious.

The bowl of food in front of her was growing cold. She had not ordered it - it was meant as a kind gesture, 'on the house'. She often brought Naruto there for food, but rarely ate.

_I'll just give it to Naruto or something._

Her thoughts were elsewhere. She had a lot to juggle, along with concerns for her friend. Arashi no longer entertained thoughts of joining the Police Force. From childhood, she admired the Uchiha clan for their skill and rich history, but now she had no desire to have anything to do with them. There was only one person in their numbers that she honestly wanted to keep in touch with and she felt like he was avoiding her.

_Things still haven't settled down enough and it doesn't make any sense. What is really going on?_

Naruto gulped down the last bit of his bowl and slammed his fist down on the counter, "Beat you!"

Kazika pushed his food away and pouted.

Arashi pushed her ramen to the blond, "Here, see if you can finish this off."

"Thanks, Sis!" the boy managed to say before he crammed more food into his mouth.

_That boy can put it away._

Kazika tugged at her shirt, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Me? Nah."

She was starving, but she refused to eat there.

He squinted at her, "You sure?"

"Uh, yeah."

Kazika shrugged and glanced over at Naruto. There was something envious in her brother's eyes that piqued her curiosity. It was not uncommon for younger boys to admire an older kid, but she did not think it was that in their case. Kazika had a better life, overall. Family, friends, and more than a few privileges.

The only thing that she could think of that would cause the jealousy was _her_. She went out of her way to check on Naruto, to do things for him, and to look out for him. It was only with the recent developments with the Uchiha that she made a point to be more present for Kazika.

Her stomach turned.

She rested her face in her hands, _I suck. I legitimately suck._

Arashi was unable to fill the voids in Naruto's life and she accepted that, but the time she put into the Uzumaki was time she could have given to her brother. It made her feel like she was failing both of the boys. Add in the fact that she felt powerless to help Itachi and it resulted in the sick feeling in her stomach.

A young girl's voice broke her out of her thoughts, "Kazika-kun?"

Arashi and the two boys turned to look at her. She recognized the child as the girl that was interested in becoming a medic, even after her sad excuse of a demonstration at the Academy.

"Yeah?" Her brother leaned against the counter and looked at his fingernails.

_Yeah, very, um, smooth, Kazika._

The girl picked at the hem of her shirt, "Me and some of our friends from class are playing and I - we - uh, we wanted to know if you wanted to play with us."

Kazika glanced at his sister and Naruto. He shrugged like he did not care, but he pinned his sister with a pleading stare.

_Oh, I see. Play tough in front of the girl and hope that I don't rat you out for those puppydog eyes you're giving me._ She pursed her lips. _I get that he wants to play, but I don't want him out of my sight._

Arashi was about to refuse, but then a few of the other children stepped up behind the girl. Collectively, they stared at her in a silent plea.

It was at that moment that she realized she was weak, "I guess you can go play for a little bit, but I'll get you when we're done over here."

She watched them go, questioning whether she should kick herself for giving in or loosen up.

"Do you have a lot of friends, too?"

She blinked and raised her eyebrows at Naruto.

He picked at the ramen in front of him, his appetite forgotten, "He has lots of friends. Do you?"

Arashi chewed on her lips. She wondered what he would have thought of her if they had been the same age. She had not been concerned with making many friends or keeping in touch with anyone other than Itachi. She was selfish, conceited, and only wanted to be close to the prodigy she idolized when she was younger.

Looking back, it struck her that she had been very lonely and it was her fault.

Now, she had a Sensei that was caring - in his own, gruff way - and the two people she hated the most were _dear_ to her. When she thought about it, it was still weird, but it was true. She admired Daisuke and Akio for their individual skills and for putting up with her as much as they did. It boggled her mind to wonder how they managed. Then, there was Itachi who became more and more precious to her each year, despite how difficult he was to connect with because of the distance he kept between himself and everyone around him.

Her vision became misty as tears welled up in her eyes, "A few."

Naruto's mouth fell open, "H-hey, don't cry, ya know! I'm your friend, so you don't have to be sad that you don't have lots, y'know! I'm going to be the greatest Hokage when I grow up, too, so I'll be the coolest friend ever!"

She wiped at her eyes and shook her head, "It's not that. I have good friends. You'll learn how much better quality is over quantity, someday."

"Then why're you crying? It's freaking me out, you know!"

"I'm not crying," she mumbled. "I've just had a lot going on and I'm really tired. I keep thinking about stuff and realizing how much life changed me."

Naruto hopped down from his stool and threw his arms around her waist. Sniffling, she smoothed his hair with one hand and used the other arm to firmly return the hug.

* * *

**Misfortune**

_There are five kinds of spies: local, inward, converted, doomed, and surviving. Everyone wants to be the one that gets out alive._

Yori paused to catch her breath. She leaned against a stack of crates and looked around. The warehouse she worked in was not particularly large, but the owner made sure to keep a decent number of people employed. The work itself was demanding and hard, causing a high turnover rate. She was not comfortable interacting with all of the new faces that appeared, but there was one person that caught her attention.

Sweat ran down his forehead and he took a moment to wipe the beads away before he turned his attention back to lifting a crate. He was perhaps a year or two younger than her, but it was hard to judge his age. How old he was did not matter to her and it was not what made her take notice of him. The boy worked hard, asked no questions, and kept a healthy distance. It was refreshing.

On the evenings they worked the same shift, she did not have to worry about him prying into her life. She did not have to worry about him making any advances, inquiring why someone of her age would choose this sort of job, or making comments about how the strenuous requirements were too much for a girl, either. In fact, she was unsure if he had even looked at her beyond a glance as he kept himself busy.

Yori had to admit that while she appreciated the distance, it made her curious about him.

She wet her dry lips with her tongue before she spoke, "How long have you lived in this area?"

The boy paused and looked at her from over his shoulder. She was struck by the strange shade of amber his eyes were.

One eyebrow arched at her, "Not long. Just moved here and needed some ryo."

That made sense. His accent was not like the one she heard the most in the area and people did come and go in that trading town. They were technically in the Land of Fire, but almost a stone's throw from the Land of Wind. The close proximity of the border caused the area to be a melting pot of sorts.

"Oh. It's kinda the same story for me."

The boy turned to face her. Now that she was closer to him, he appeared to be around fourteen. He was young, but close to her own age, as she suspected.

"Is that so?"

Yori nodded.

She had to resist the urge to fidget. The way that he looked at her, while not aggressive, made her nervous. She felt like she was being picked apart - which she had a hard time believing. His body language and his expression were friendly enough.

"Um, so, what's your name?" she pressed.

"Hiroki."

"It's nice to meet you."

He crossed his arms and leaned toward her, "I don't remember getting your name."

"Oh! I'm Yori."

His clothes were loose enough from a distance that she did not realize how slender he was. It surprised her that he was able to handle the loads she often saw him lifting and shifting around.

"That's a cute name."

She blinked, "What? My name? I really don't think it is."

"Sure, it is."

He tilted his head to one side and a portion of his bangs plastered against his forehead. The rest of his black hair was just long enough to be held back by a hair tie.

"The compliment is appreciated, but you don't have to flirt."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. Just put me in line if you ever have a problem with what I say."

She giggled, "Oh, I will."

"You're not from here, either? I mean, you don't talk like the locals."

The giggle died on her lips, but she forced a grin, "I was just thinking the same thing about you."

"How funny. Guess we have some stuff in common?"

"Maybe."

He rocked back on his heels to give her some more space, even though she was the one that had him cornered, "I'm not going to prod you for your back story or anything. Just remember that starting fresh is sometimes the best thing you can do."

She averted her eyes and nodded, "Yeah. I guess so."

"For me, my dad died." He admitted. "Left me and my mom to make it on our own. It can be rough sometimes, but we manage."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh, well, it's really just a change of scenery for me. I'm here with some people that are like family to me. We just didn't have any opportunities in any of the last places we were in, so we came here to see what we could find, you know?"

"Sounds reasonable."

She chewed on her lips. She was nervous. He watched her. It was the same nervous energy he had seen in every person of her little click. Some people suffered from paranoia but it was unusual to see it in an entire group - unless they were hiding something. They kept to themselves, spoke only when spoken to, kept their answers short, avoided questions about their past, and treated everyone like they could not be trusted - except for this girl.

He could see it in her eyes. She was tired and scared. The only reason she approached him was to distract herself from whatever she was hiding through a few moments of companionship. Yori tried to keep herself squared, hoping that no one would notice her insecurity, but his sharp eyes pierced through her.

Hiroki tucked a strand of her blond hair behind her ear. Her eyes shifted to his hands and she chewed even harder on her lip. They were delicate, like those of an artist.

"Do you... do you draw or paint or anything?"

He looked at his fingers and shrugged, "A little. I'll draw something for you, sometime."

The offer made a smile spread across her face. His eyes squinted as he returned the gesture. There was a pretty girl hidden under the grime and sweat.

She shifted a little closer to him, "Really? Like what?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off.

"Oi! Yori! Stop flirting and help us with this stuff!"

The girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

"I have to go! I'm sorry, Hiroki-kun."

She bowed and rushed to the other side of the building.

As soon as the girl was out of sight, he sniffed in distaste. His nose crinkled at the dirt and dust that coated his arms. He was miserable.

He forced his features back into the friendly facade he tried to keep up on the job and found another worker nearby, "Hey, if our boss asks, I'm taking my break, alright?"

Hiroki's coworker acknowledged his request with a nod.

* * *

If there was one thing that Ibiki ingrained in his students, it was that information was the lifeblood of the world. The ignorant were powerless and the knowledgeable were dangerous. Each Village had spies attempting to infiltrate the ranks of their enemies in order to gain more intel.

Which was why this mission was strange.

Word had spread of an offer of sorts - an exchange of information on a Kiri nobleman for a promise of safety. It was not the first time a refugee sought sanctuary in such a manner, but this was clumsy. Too clumsy. The offer had been extended to both the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. In response, both Hidden Villages sent agents to feel out the situation. They caught scent of the lead through questionable sources, but it was worth checking out.

Even though the Land of Fire shared a border with the Land of Water and the information would potentially be of more use to them, the Land of Wind was sure to send someone to look after their own interests. If it turned out to be true, then Konoha could possibly get a leg up and take advantage of the Land of Water. Sunagakure cared nothing for Kirigakure, but there were repercussions tied to power struggles. If one Land managed to grow in strength and wealth at another Land's expense, then that Land becomes more problematic to the rest.

As the days stretched on, though, it became apparent that both Hidden Villages were skeptical about the legitimacy of this offer.

"Any updates?"

"They're morons."

There were five people linked to the offer being extended. The initial concern was that it was a set up. The longer Daisuke watched them, the more convinced he became that they were just stupid.

He could think of many other things he would enjoy doing other than sneaking into an alley on his breaks to check in with Akio. The sheer force of the wind was enough to leave his skin chapped, even though the walk was relatively short. There were no trees to act as a buffer, either. It made him realize how thankful he should be to not live in a desert or remotely close to one.

It also made him wonder how Akio's shokaichu, the small worms gathered around their feet, managed to survive long enough to gather information and report back in the inhospitable climate.

"Well, have you figured anything out?" Daisuke sneered at his surroundings.

The Aburame shrugged, "There's someone from Sunagakure investigating. Probably the same Jounin I spotted a couple days ago."

Daisuke sniffed, "And we're just a couple Chuunin. Great."

There were many advantages to having Ibiki as their sensei, but with those came expectations. It was ludicrous to think that two fourteen year old boys could handle a delicate mission with a foreign agent of greater experience sniffing around - but as soon as they were connected to Ibiki's name, they were elevated to higher expectations.

Akio grunted.

"I mean, your bugs do a good job, but maybe if our third wheel would get her nose out of a book and take more missions with us, then maybe we'd be done. She could've done that weird thing and told us 'hey guys, these people aren't ninjas, so let's just knock them over the head and get out of here' and then we could ride that giant taxi of a bird back to Konoha."

"We'd have too many people to fly back with."

"We could tie some of them to the bottom of the bird!"

Akio grunted.

"Why am I the one working on the inside, anyway? Do you know how heavy those crates are?"

The Aburame looked up from his shokaichu and stared at him. Both of the boys knew the answer - Akio projected an air that drove people away - and he looked _wrong_ in civilian clothing. The coat he always wore was just as much a part of his identity as his name. It also hid the bugs that were constantly transitioning from inside his body to the air. One slip up like that and their cover would be blown.

"You complain too much."

"Oh yeah - says the guy sitting in an air conditioned room, staring out a window with a telescope most of the day!"

Akio's lips twisted, smugly, "Is that so, _Hiroki-kun_?"

Daisuke stiffened, "Leaving a fly on the wall? Eavesdropping?"

He shrugged, "Gets boring."

Daisuke glared at him as he wondered how it was possible for the Aburame to be more successful with the opposite sex than both himself and Arashi. The amber eyed boy had yet to catch a girl's eye and Arashi was so deep in the friendzone that she was drowning - but the guy crawling with bugs was gradually procuring a girlfriend.

As if he could read Daisuke's mind, Akio's smirk deepened.

"Anyway," he sniffed. "I guess I need to get back there."

The Aburame pulled out a telescope, "I'll keep an eye on the Jounin."

"Yeah... you do that."

Akio might have been quiet, prone to bullying in the past, infested with bugs, and terrible conversation, but he was capable. Daisuke was fully aware of the reasoning behind their roles in the mission, despite his complaints. He was better at reading people - the girl, Yori, was already wrapped around his finger - and it was the least dangerous role to fill. The Aburame had down time, but kept an eye on the warehouse, intercepted the "offers", and was the one designated to deal with foreign contenders.

"We need to make our move soon. I agree that our targets are not shinobi. It's only a matter of time before our competition moves in."

"Understood. If anything starts going sideways, signal me."

* * *

Daisuke knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped inside the warehouse. The normal sounds of people working were gone. He could hear a muted series of voices bantering back and forth.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

If the Sunagakure Jounin had slipped in and made a move, then that would severely complicate their mission.

He cursed under his breath and activated his Kamofuraaji no jutsu. He needed to figure out what was going on, without being detected. He was not the best in a fight.

What he found made his stomach drop.

Four of his five targets were gathered in a circle with a couple other workers. In the center of their circle was the girl, Yori. Her blood pooled around her from a fatal head wound. A crate was laying on its side by her.

"It fell and hit her," one of the men explained in a shaky voice.

Daisuke's eyes narrowed.

There was blood on the crate, but it appeared to be smeared onto it. The splatter of blood from the girl's body, outside of the pool, did not match up. He focused on the man's hands - there was blood on his fingers.

The crate was not what killed Yori.

It was her so-called _friend_.

With how paranoid their group had been, it was only a matter of time before in-fighting occurred. They must have seen her speaking to him, earlier, and drew the conclusion that she was their greatest liability.

Daisuke clenched his fists so tightly that the knuckles turned white and he reached into one of his pockets for a scroll. He was going to enjoy incapacitating them.

The sound of a series of things pelting into the large windows of the warehouse made him pause. The chuunin looked up and gaped.

Akio's kikaichu were swarming the windows and rushing inside.

If that was not a signal that something was going very wrong, then he did not know what was.

He needed to get this finished fast.

* * *

The man's head pounded in protest as he regained consciousness.

With a gasp, he jerked awake. He was tied to a chair and his hands were bound behind him. His fingers were sticky from Yori's blood and a bad taste in his mouth made him gag.

"For whatever it's worth, the rest of your guys are alive." Daisuke commented. "Which was a bit tricky with an _entire _squad of Kiri Black Ops rushing in."

They were in a dim room. The man had no idea where exactly that was and his eyes widened in growing panic.

"P-please. I'll tell you whatever you want!" He spluttered. "Just let me go. I'll do anything!"

Daisuke sniffed, "I really don't care about what you tell me, because you're going to spill every detail of your life before they're done with you. You're in really deep and you know it. Trust me, you're going to wish someone had bashed _your_ head in, but that's going to come later. Right now, it's just you and me."

"What are you going to do to me?"

Daisuke pulled a chair in front of his captive and sat. In one of his hands was a sheet of paper with dark splotches on it.

"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're wondering. Killing trash like you isn't worth my time, but I am going to make you hurt." He explained, calmly. "Now, look at this and tell me - what do you see in this little ink blotch test of mine?"

The man's pupils became pinpoints and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He could not look away.

* * *

**B Ranked Mission?**

Arashi sat with several books open on the table, in front of her. Some were for her medical research as she studied and trained to master the Chikatsu Saisei no jutsu, while some were meant for the research she was dedicating toward her next medical ninjutsu and fuinjutsu combination. She had been there since early in the afternoon and it was now late at night. Despite the time she was there that day, her thoughts had been scattered. Progress was dismal.

Many days had passed since she sent the note with Sasuke and there was still no word from her friend.

She was so distracted by her worries that she did not notice a presence approaching her - nor did she think to hide the Scroll of Seals.

"Well, you seem distracted tonight. You've usually hidden that scroll before anyone has the chance to fully step in and catch you with it."

Arashi's spine stiffened and she jerked to attention.

Hiruzen chuckled at the mortified expression her features contorted into. She had been caught, red-handed.

"S-Sandaime-sama!" She stood, her face burning. "I, uh..."

He waved his hand and took a seat across from her. She swallowed, thickly, and sat.

_Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. No, no, no. I knew I shouldn't have been messing with that scroll - I'm so going to be told I can't use his library anymore and I'll be screwed._

Hiruzen pulled out his pipe, "What sort of project are you working on now?"

"Something kind of like the first."

The words sounded stupid as soon as they left her mouth. Instead of delving into the concept of the jutsu and laying out the foundation and her theories for how it would operate, she blurted out the most simplistic response that came to her mind.

"I see. You need to design a fail-safe for all of your fuinjutsu, if you can. Look to the Hyuuga's seal. As much as your jutsu could help our shinobi, if it were to be taken and then reproduced by our enemies, it could be disastrous."

"Oh." Her mouth formed an O. "I really should have thought of that."

It never occurred to her that there was a possibility of that happening. For the jutsu to work, it required a specific set of skills and because of that she assumed that she was one of the few that would be able to produce the technique.

_There's always some sort of flaw to every jutsu. Even if it's rare for one person to have the requirements to handle it, that doesn't mean a group of people working together can't figure it out._

"I doubt there is much to worry about concerning it, though. The process of distributing it to shinobi looks to be taxing, if the notes I've looked over are of any indication. It would be a feat to spread it through a large number of people."

"Yeah, I don't know how efficient it would really be with that. At least in this stage, anyway." She nodded. "I'll get to work on figuring out a fail safe for everything. Thank you, Sandaime-sama."

Arashi rearranged the texts in front of her, but avoided touching the _forbidden_ scroll she was not supposed to have. From his comment, she was aware that they knew she had been using it, but that did not mean she felt confident that it was acceptable.

"I want you to take a mission with your former teammates, Akio and Daisuke."

She paused, "Huh?"

He exhaled and smoke curled around him like a shroud, "They brought in several refugees for questioning some time ago. Our inquiries have been answered and the Land of Water has offered a pardon to them. This mission concerns taking them to our southern border and handing them over to a group of Kiri shinobi that will handle them from there."

"So, these people are refugees? What were they running from?"

"They were unfortunate enough to stumble onto a scandal, of sorts, concerning a nobleman."

Arashi was not stupid. Nobility were famous for being eccentric, selfish, and vengeful. If these people were running, that meant they feared for their lives. Despite the military strength of each Hidden Village and the prestige of each of their kages, it was the nobility that controlled much of each Land's wellbeing.

Earning the ire of a nobleman, more often than not, meant death.

She shifted in her chair, "A pardon?"

"This exchange will be an act of goodwill between Konoha and Kirigakure."

"Oh." She frowned. "Politics. Playing nice in order to keep the peace?"

Hiruzen sighed. Arashi could not fathom the headache he dealt with on a daily basis.

"Is there anything I'd have to worry about?"

"Sunagakure showed interest in obtaining some of the information. Also, be prepared for the refugees' attempts to escape. This mission is filed under a B ranking."

A chill ran up her spine. This would be her first B ranked mission.

"I see. So, Akio, Daisuke, and me. Who will be the taichou?"

"Maito Gai."

"When are we expected to leave?"

"Two days from now."

* * *

**Virga**

Arashi laid in bed, slipping in and out of sleep. Her first B ranked mission was scheduled to begin the next morning. All of her bags were packed and she had everything prepared, but she was restless. Not even the long, hot shower she took before throwing herself in bed helped.

Thoughts of adding in the failsafe to the Fuin Shugotenshi bombarded her, along with pre-mission jitters. Daisuke and Akio were going to hate her, but it was better to put up with a quick burst of pain to set the jutsu than it was to go on a mission with no medic and then get injured. She regretted not weaving the seals into Itachi, but any time she had with him was short and the idea of putting him through pain bothered her.

A tapping at the window pulled her the rest of the way from her half-asleep state. She slid out of her blankets and pulled the curtains back.

A crow tapped its beak against the glass and cocked its head to one side.

_Um._

Arashi could feel Itachi's signature nearby, but that was not uncommon. She often sensed him in the village as he operated with ANBU. The difference this time was that he was approaching her location.

Excitement jolted through her.

_Is he finally coming to see me?_

Arashi caught sight of herself and froze. All of her makeup was gone, she was wearing very baggy pajamas, and she was dark under her eyes from not sleeping well.

_Oh boy. I look like a mess._

She took a deep breath. There was no point in rushing to throw herself together. Despite feeling naked in some sense, she was alright with him seeing her in her natural state of dishevelment. The comments of her similarities to a civilian she was amassing made her uncomfortable. It left her in a state of discomfort no matter what she wore, even if it was just mild. Most kunoichi operated with an unspoken rule of minimalism, unless otherwise was required on a mission. Mikoto never wore makeup and she was gorgeous.

_Except I'm not her._

With a sigh, she unlocked her window and sat on her bed to wait.

It did not take long for him to arrive. He walked up the side of the house and peered in at her. She motioned for him to enter.

Quietly, he slid the window open, stepped inside and held a box out to her.

"What is it?"

She accepted it from him and opened it to answer her own question. It was a box of dango.

_Oh my.._

Itachi sat beside her and picked up a stick packed with the pastries. It never struck her before as amusing that he had a sweet tooth, but now it coaxed a grin out of her.

"It's good to see you."

The corners of his mouth quirked upward.

The way that he came in, wordlessly, like nothing was wrong made her nostalgic. It reminded her of the times when things were less complicated. Their situation would never be as simple as it was, but the gesture did not escape her. Back then, he would talk to her about history, architecture, and his clan. She was fascinated by him and tried to cling to every word. Gradually, his conversations became shorter, but more meaningful. He was always enigmatic to her and for a second she wondered why he would put up with her and her petty complaints and worries.

She hoped it was because he recognized her desire to be his friend and her wish to know him as a person. She was not determined to be near him because of his skills as a shinobi or any social advantages she might be able to squeeze out of their friendship. She cared for him for who he was, even if she had a hard time understanding him as much as she would have liked.

He looked around the room and she knew the bareness stuck out to him.

"I'm sorry for all of this."

She shook her head, "Hey, I'm fine and my family is, too. Sure, it sucks, but it will pass."

"Yes," he agreed, softly. "It will."

Arashi did not like the tone of his statement, "But yeah, let's not focus on all of that drama. How has Sasuke been doing?"

"Very well. What of Kazika?"

"Honestly, he's doing great. He loves the Academy way more than I thought he would. Way better than I did when I was his age." She shrugged. "I'm glad he enjoys it, I guess. I was so angry about sucking at even the most basic genjutsu that I got kind of resentful toward my instructors. Like, everyone else got to focus just on identifying, handling, and overcoming them in their studies. For me? They tried to push me toward specializing in it. They might have meant well, but it made me feel like there was something wrong with me."

His eyebrow rose, "There's nothing wrong with you. A person's reality is subjective. With illusions, the trick is to make them so convincing that the target cannot perceive what is real and what is the product of the technique. As a whole, most people perceive basic things similarly. They see, hear, touch, taste, and smell to define the world around them. For someone like you, what is the world like? How do you determine what is real?"

"You mean, as a sensor?" She leaned back. "Until Ibiki pressed me into refining my use of it, I never took the time to think into it. Honestly? I identify people by signatures. Everyone is unique. If I focus on one enough, it turns into a series of sensations and the collection of those is how I can tell the difference between people. I don't see a person's face first. I feel their warmth, their affinity, the flow of their chakra. It's like I can almost see the light of their lives. If I know someone well enough, I can get impressions of what their mood is, but I'm not going to claim any of that one as a definite. It's just vague."

The corners of his mouth curved upward a fraction, "Seeing and experiencing things as differently as you do makes your perceived reality different enough that if it was used as your basis for illusions, it would stand out as abnormal to your target. Therefore, it would fail as a genjutsu."

"That makes sense. You know, I wish I was as talented at it as you are - or at least as carefree and happy go lucky as Kazika. I've always got this thing in my head goading me and pushing me to do better, learn more, to try harder, but I can never keep up with it. I feel like I'm not only letting myself down, but other people, too. I guess I've always been a 'people pleaser' to some extent." She shrugged, "I think that's one reason why I wanted to help everyone so much as a child. There was no 'friend' and 'enemy' - just all these lights and rushes of senses. They were all defined in my head as just people and deserving of a kind pair of hands to look after them."

"Being born into war," he exhaled, his expression reminiscent, "paying attention to the pain it inflicts on everyone instead of being controlled by old grudges?"

"Yeah. I guess it was just my way of coping. I wonder if the child I was would hate who I've become."

They lapsed into silence - a silence that made her chest feel tight. Itachi's mouth was bent in a frown and he stared at the floor. The stick he had in his hand held one of the dumplings lodged on the end, forgotten.

_Okay, I need to make this lighthearted and not so serious. I'm sure he's had more than enough of serious, lately._

She stood and went to her bookshelf, "But yeah, they left all these books, so I've at least gotten to read a bit more. I mean, it's distracting a little from my studies, but as a long as I don't start hiding subliminal messages concerning terrible romances in my seals, then I think I'll be fine."

He snorted and pulled his gaze back to her.

"I haven't read most of these, but I guess I'm really not missing out on much. These are all books my mom reads and then passes on to me. She probably just wants someone to talk to about them, but it's a little awkward." She pulled one off the shelf. "I mean, this one? I kept reading it just to see if the characters would ever develop a personality. They didn't." She put it back and grabbed another one. "This one made me laugh, but it was dumb, too. I never understood why the two main characters even liked each other, in the first place."

Arashi chanced a glance over her shoulder to check his reaction. He watched her, patiently. She could not remember the last time he had given her his attention for this long - other than when she tricked him into taking a break - and now she was not sure what to do with herself. At a loss, she continued to sift through the books and comment about them. Once she ran out of the ones she was familiar with, she began to read the summaries.

It was far from a meaningful conversation, but she had a hunch that he was there to see a friendly face, regardless of what she had to say. Not that she could be sure of that, though.

Book by book, she went through her bookshelf until her throat was raw from reading. Light began to creep in through her window and she glanced at her clock to check the time. She would have to get ready for her mission, soon.

"Um," she cleared her throat. "I have a mission in a little over an hour."

"If you need to get ready, I will go."

Arashi chewed on her lips. She did not want him to go. This was the first time she was able to pretend nothing was wrong and she did not want it to end.

"Eh, give me a second to change and we can talk some more?"

He nodded, hesitantly.

She grabbed her clothes and stepped into her bathroom to change. It surprised her that he agreed to stay. She jerked her pajamas off and slid into more appropriate clothing.

_Maybe he's just in no rush to go back home?_ She checked her reflection. _Maybe he missed me?_

She doubted she would ever know. With a shrug, she disregarded the thought and returned to her room. Itachi remained on her bed, sitting next to the box of mostly eaten dango.

"I already have most of my stuff ready, so I just need to put myself together a little more and I'll be done," she explained.

He hummed in response.

She positioned herself in front of the mirror in her room and used some foundation to disguise the bags under her eyes, "I hope this mission goes well. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I'll be with Akio and Daisuke, so we're at least familiar with each other."

She moved on to lining her eyes, adding more dimension with some shadow, and then coating her eyelashes with mascara. She preferred a neutral palette, so that it did not stand out too much, but it helped her feel more confident. She caught a glimpse of Itachi as she finished up.

He was watching her, thoughtfully, but there was something about his features that made her stomach feel small. Ever since she received the scar across her neck from Satoshi, she had been in a general state of unrest. She questioned herself in ways she never thought she would. At that moment, she felt at peace with Itachi's dark eyes following her movements.

_Does he feel the same about me? _She bent down to gather her bags, "And I'm ready."

He nodded and stood.

" I guess we could both slip out through the window?"

Arashi did not want her parents knowing she let him visit her in the middle of the night. They would get ideas.

He exited first and she followed. They transitioned from the side of the building to the street in one jump and faced each other.

"Be safe, Arashi."

"I'll do my best."

He poked her nose and turned to walk away.

Her throat tightened. She did not know why, but it hurt to watch him leave.

"Itachi, wait!" The words jumped out of her mouth.

He paused and arched an eyebrow at her. Her lips burned and the tips of her fingers tingled.

"I'm going to tell you something and even if it completely backfires, I'd rather a season of embarrassment over looking back with regret that I never told you." Arashi clenched the straps of her backpack so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "I am in love with you, Itachi."

His eyebrows rose and surprise rushed across his face. For a second she thought he would close the distance between them and share with her the secrets that were weighing him down, but it was just as quickly replaced with a passive mask. They were like virga - no matter how desperately the rain sought the ground, they could never reach each other.

"I cherish our friendship, but I cannot be with you. Forgive me."

It was the answer she knew she would receive.

Tears stung her eyes, but she smiled and gave him a nod, "Yeah, I know. I expected you to say something like that."

"Please, Arashi, forgive me."

"There's no reason for you to apologize," she shook her head and wiped the tears away. "I love you and even if you can't return my feelings or act on them, I'll always love you and be here for you. You can keep your secrets if you have to. I don't need to know every thought and I don't mean to try to pressure it all out of you. You are beautiful to me. Out of all of the signatures I've ever felt, yours is the most wonderful, gentle, and warm. I look at you and I see art and kindness. I admire your dedication, your hard work, your skill, your mind, the thoughts you choose to share with me, your selflessness - everything. Just because we aren't a couple and even if we never end up together, I won't stop thinking you are wonderful. I'm thankful I met you in the library that day and you chose to put up with a nosy, pushy girl like me. I'm here for you and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to change that."

His gaze shifted from the ground to her face. It was the first time in a long time that he looked at her and she felt like he was _really_ looking at just her. There was no distance or perplexed frown as other thoughts commanded his attention.

What she saw in his eyes was a collection of emotions that were so _raw_ it made her breath hitch.

"A country's worth is determined by the people within its borders. When one professes to love their land, it is because of the love they hold for its people." He held her gaze. "I serve the Land of Fire and uphold its Will not only for the Uchiha." Her heart skipped a beat. "For those that motivate me, there is nothing I would not do."

Tears rolled down her cheeks, "Thank you."

He inclined his head.

As she walked away, her pack bounced against her back and the contents inside clicked together in a rhythm that made her think of onigiri and juice shared in simpler times.

* * *

And that's it for chapter 28! I'm not sure whether I should refer to our favorite spandex wearing Jounin as Gai or Guy. If any of you have a preference, let me know. xD I'm quite torn. If anyone has any suggestions, criticisms, or opinions, then please feel free to share them in a review or a message. :) I'm open to all forms of feedback.

And if anyone's curious, Daisuke uses a genjutsu infused Rorschach test to interrogate people, since he uses paint and ink as a medium for his techniques and he doesn't have the stomach for the more gruesome methods Ibiki uses.

* * *

**Suzaan**: Thank you for your review!

Itachi is a sad character. Nothing ever really went right for him. :( And I'm also bothered by the fact that Sasuke was the only survivor of the Uchiha clan (other than Obito and Madara). I've wondered for a while, what about bastard children? Did the Uchiha clan never mess around or have accident babies with people outside of their clan? It just seems odd to me that the bloodline was so isolated.

I'd be afraid to have Arashi stumble across anything that would draw Danzo's attention to her. He's a frightening man.

**Misora Asuka**: Thank you! I wasn't even sure if anyone would recognize the names or remember who they were. :) I enjoy weaving canon characters in as much as I can, while still trying to make sure that the OCs develop and are not forgotten. When I was planning the chapter, it just didn't make sense to me to make it to where Arashi was left alone, so I thought it was an excellent opportunity to show how convinced the Uchiha were that Itachi killed Shisui. As for Fugaku, I've ended up liking him more than I thought I would. I was afraid that I would be tempted to focus more on Mikoto, which I've seen in other fanfics quite a bit, but the dynamics between Itachi and his father are more interesting to me and I haven't seen him shown as anything other than stern, cold, and mean in most fanfictions.

Itachi is quite frustrating! But that is why I love him. He's not normal. He thinks differently and reacts to things in a way that normal people would not. As fun as it would be to have Arashi punch him, I don't think she could manage it. xD Unless he let her. Then it would be like a pity punch or something.

Thank you for your review! :D I hope you like this chapter, as well.

**Windschatten**: I'm glad you enjoy this rollercoaster and it doesn't feel like a 28 chapter long train wreck to you! xD Your reviews always flatter me and I appreciate them, immensely. Sometimes, I worry that I won't be able to portray certain canon events, correctly, or that they'll feel too much like rehash.

I think the Uchiha are my favorite family of dbags in the series. I love to hate their pride and flaws. hahah

Ibiki will never be able to forget the cluttered tackiness of his kunoichi's room. Ever. I meant to actually have him comment on it, but for some reason I forgot to include it in the last chapter. Dx

Thank you for your review and I hope you like chapter 28!

**Llyrica**: Yay! :D And Itachi is definitely a character that I love, but when I think about him I get very sad. It's the tragic aspects of his character that shape him into being as good as he is.

Thank you for the review. :)

**Juliedoo**: xD Indeed, Ibiki would have disowned her. I orignially intended for the questioning scene to be longer and less obvious, but it sort of... just turned out that way. Siighh.

I think if Itachi was a SIMs character, that Kishimoto would torment him. Like, lock him in rooms or wait until he gets into the pool and then take the ladder away. The poor boy goes through a continuous cycle of crap.

Thank you for your review! :D


	29. Of Goodwill

**Chapter 29: Of Goodwill**

Well, this took a little longer than I expected it to. I decided that this mission would need to be broken into two chapter, just so I wouldn't put you guys through another 10k chapter (I apologize for Virga being as long as it was). If everything goes as planned, I should have the last part of this mission completed and posted this upcoming weekend. Shew. I apologize if this feels rushed or if it feels like filler. D: Also, look over any typos that might have managed to sneak in. haha

* * *

**Nameless**: Thank you for your reviews. Let me answer one of them with this:

Kakashi's dark eye narrowed and he shifted his weight from the tip of his fingers, to the balls of his feet as he straightened his crouched form. The ANBU mask he wore over his face trapped his breath against his skin and helped fend off the chill that was in the air that night. For the past several days, he had been tracking one target - through rainy nights and hot days, relentlessly - and she had proven to be an elusive target.

He shifted his weight once more, his senses alert and his body prepared to leap into action.

His quarry was cornered.

As if his intent was a tangible substance, the girl paused and looked around. His fingers slipped into the pouch on his leg and gathered shuriken.

The girl frowned, "I know you're there."

Kakashi froze - how did she know?

She bolted.

Despite the chase she had given him, her luck had run out. In seconds, he had her pinned to the ground.

"Dammit, Kakashi," she groaned into the dirt.

"You shouldn't be here," he whispered by her ear.

"Shouldn't you be doing ANBU stuff, instead of chasing me around? You know, that whole self imposed isolation because of PTSD and depression thing that you're not handling well?"

He pushed her face harder into the ground, "If you'd stop stalking other authors and work on your own project, maybe you'd be done with Part 2 by now."

"But.. but... Windschatten and The Tale of Two Leaves..."

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"I'll fight you."

"Of course you will," he replied, sweetly. "Fanfiction authors are deadly opponents, after all."

"I'll make you gay with Gai."

He knocked her unconscious with a well placed blow to the back of her head and threw her over his shoulder like a large, lazy sack of potatoes.

* * *

But, seriously people. Fangirl with me over Windschatten's fanfiction, The Tale of Two Leaves.

* * *

**Chapter Song**: Modest Mouse - Dashboard

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: _Arashi meets Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey and begins her first B Ranked mission, but will tension in the team cause issues along the way?_

* * *

**Chapter 29**

Arashi stood in an alley, dabbing at her eyes, furiously. She knew deep down that she would face rejection – they were fourteen and thirteen, respectively, they were both busy with careers, and his family probably expected him to marry in their clan. Things were easier for them as friends and nothing more. She knew all of those were obstacles, even without the question of whether he cared for her in the same way or not. Even with all of this knowledge and the expectation of being turned down, she did not expect it to hurt like this.

Her chest was burning, but the rest of her body was numb. The scene played again and again in her head, leaving her senses reeling. She felt stupid. She questioned her position as his friend, questioned every choice of word, and questioned all of his hard to read reactions.

All she knew was that she loved him and that he made her feel special. Every time he looked at her – every rare smile he pointed in her direction – made her feel unique as a person. He managed to make her feel worthwhile without trying, and when she saw his efforts in her life – the vote of faith he passed on to the Third and the watchful eye he kept on Satoshi – it left her speechless. While she was coming to accept that people were viewed by little more than their usefulness, it was never that way with their friendship. She never worried that her particular set of skills as a kunoichi played a role in his treatment of her.

Now she was terrified she had messed it all up.

_"I serve the Land of Fire and uphold its Will not only for the Uchiha."_

Rejected or not, she wanted to believe that he _did_ care for her. Actions spoke louder than any words. Even if it was not romantically like she wanted, he had shown her that he cared, had he not?

_"For those that motivate me, there is nothing I would not do."_

Why did those words feel like a good-bye?

Arashi sniffled.

She felt so very stupid for throwing her feelings out like that. She had tied her happiness into someone else – someone she could not have – just like the main character of a cheap romance novel. The difference between those characters and her was that there was no happy ending waiting for her. Now she had to go on her first B Ranked mission and then come back to see if she could pick up the pieces.

Arashi dabbed her eyes once more, took a breath, and stepped out of the alley.

First and foremost, she was a kunoichi of Konohagakure, and there was work to be done.

* * *

The first thing Arashi decided about her mission was that she was confused.

This was her first time working with a Jounin she did not know and they had four captives with names she had to memorize. That would have been far from overwhelming, but she was still in a haze from sobbing violently before she arrived. Her makeup was in need of being touched up – she was grateful no one pointed out the eyeliner and mascara running from her eyes – and the numb sensation radiating through her body was a distraction she needed to deal with better, but that was not what threw her.

What made her pause and stare with her mouth hanging open like an idiot was what this Jounin was _wearing_ and what he was _saying_.

_Oh kami, he's in a spandex suit._

"Ahh, yes!" The Jounin, Gai, barked out in a baritone voice. "The last of our youthful group has arrived!"

_Oh no, oh no, oh no – I can see _everything_!_

The man grabbed her by the shoulders and smiled, brightly, "You are Arashi, right?"

She stiffened, "Yes, taichou."

"Good!" He released her and straightened to his full height. "I've already been over our plan with Akio and Daisuke, but don't worry." He shot a thumbs up and a wink in her direction. "It won't take long to get you on the same page as us – ahh, sleeping in – the freedoms of youth!"

She was not late, nor did she sleep in. In fact, she was five minutes early.

_You green bastard._ She wanted to hiss at him, but she chose to apologize, instead, "I'm sorry I wasn't earlier."

He laughed, deep in his chest. His muscles rippled with each movement and she tried to avert her eyes. By doing so, she caught sight of the horrified expression on Daisuke's face and the grimace that contorted Akio's mouth.

"As we discussed, and I – as your taichou – decided, we have many options, but we will not take the most obvious route. No, going South in a direct line toward the rendezvous point would be too predictable."

"Yeah, it is predictable." Arashi's lips thinned into a line, "By taking other routes and going a roundabout way, we can put Konoha between us and the land of Wind for a while, stay deeper in our most traveled routes, and discourage an attack from Suna shinobi."

Gai listened to her and nodded at her reasoning, "Yes, those are the points we discussed, but we're dealing with Jounin and as Elite ninja, they won't be as easily deterred by the proximity of our village or other towns, so we'll have to stay on our toes. It is the better decision to take a route that may take us a little longer, but will prove to be the safer option."

"I definitely see your point." She mentally tacked another day's worth of travel onto the travel time.

"If I was the only one on this mission, I would race headlong toward the rendezvous and face the Suna agents with all the ferocity of youth!" Gai's chest swelled as he imagined the scene. "But, your Sensei advised me to be cautious, because your squad's set of skills are geared not toward open combat, but to other things – which wouldn't be my first choice of training when preparing our next generation for the hardships of battle and life as a ninja – but what is done is done. What matters is that you never give up and you persevere!"

Arashi had to remind herself to close her mouth, because gaping at someone as much as she was gaping at him was rude. At the same time, a rush of gratitude for her Sensei's continued supervision washed through her.

It was easy to make the assumption that Gai was a taijutsu specialist. His clothing allowed mobility and it showed off how much work he put into training and maintaining his physique. Logically, if he were to take on students, they would follow in his footsteps and have a heavy focus on taijutsu and direct combat.

Ibiki was not a taijutsu specialist. He was of more use in his current position than he would be on a battlefield. It was of no surprise that his students were geared more toward specializing in more subtle or prestigious fields than being generalized to everything – Akio being the only one from their Genin squad that would excel in such a way, because Arashi and Daisuke were not suited for much beyond their predisposed aptitudes.

"Don't pout, Arashi!" He slapped her back, playfully – which knocked her forward several steps. "We'll think of this as a learning experience. Our goal is to get them to the rendezvous point at all costs, preferably without being caught." He pointed into the distance, his eyes bright with anticipation. "And if we fail, then we run the entire distance back!"

"Right."

He smiled, eagerly, "Louder!"

_Oh, kami. There's no way in hell I'm running all the way back._ She took a shallow breath, "Right!"

"That was a little better. We need to get pumped up for this and do our best!"

_He's like a motivational speaker or something._

"Here!" The Jounin shoved a scroll in her face. "This is the report issued to us from the Intelligence Division. Scan through it, if you want."

This man was the opposite of their sensei.

Ibiki was quiet, unless he was giving orders, but even then his voice was more like a bear's with the way it rumbled. So far, Gai appeared to nearly shout most of what he said with a vivacious energy that spoke of his love for life. It made Arashi tired to listen to him. While Ibiki would never receive compliments for his sense of style, she had no problems looking at him. With Gai, she continuously averted her eyes or tried to keep them pinned to the center of his face.

_Oh, geez, his eyebrows, though! And that bowl cut!_ She forced a good-natured smile. _Still, it's better than looking down. This guy has no issues with confidence. I mean, he's just baring himself to the world without any second thoughts._

Akio walked past the Jounin, "Let's get these people and start transporting them. It's going to take us close to a week to get them down there, and that's if we march them as hard as they can handle."

_Yeah, traveling with non-shinobi takes forever. Break after break and the pace is so slow…_

"You are as eager as I am to start our mission." Gai threw an arm around the Aburame. "Good!"

Even though Akio's eyes were concealed, Arashi and Daisuke could feel the glare that he shot at the Jounin. Despite the tenacity behind the glower, the man was oblivious and unaffected.

_I'm afraid this mission is going to be a very long one._

Akio untangled himself from Gai and walked away with a shudder.

_At least I'm not the only one disconcerted._

Arashi sighed.

_Seriously, though? Why did fate decree that we would be transporting four people? I mean, if there was only one of two, then they could have assigned me and just one other person to this mission. Sukai could've carried all of us down there and it would have cut down in man power and time. _She whined, internally. _Oh, well. Getting out of Konoha's probably good for me right now._

* * *

Rento was the leader of their group. He gathered the servants that were involved in the scandal and ran with them. He was in his thirties, had short, brown hair, and tanned skin. There was a coldness to his eyes that Arash did not care for – he had seen and done things she did not want to know about.

Haruma was an old man with a reserved disposition and a chronic cough. The first thing she noticed about him was that he refused to meet anyone's eyes. He shied away from it as if he was moving away from physical pain. He had weathered skin and a scar across his face. In the report, it stated that he offered no resistance.

She frowned,_ Someone broke his spirit years ago._

Toma was young. According to the report, he was eleven. He spoke only when spoken to, revealing a stutter. The kid was scared and his eyes darted, constantly, as he looked for a way to escape. He had a plain appearance. His plump cheeks were his most defining characteristic.

_Poor kid. How did he even get pulled into this? A civilian at his age has no business in a scandal. Their master must have been a real piece of work._

Taiga was a brute of a man. He was at least three times her size. The report stated he was the one to put up the most resistance, with his sheer size proving to be an issue. Beyond that, he was of average intelligence and well aware of the situation he was in.

_He's like a muscle bound giant. We should tie him to a wagon and have him pull us to the border. He looks stronger than any ox I've seen._

Arashi familiarized herself with their signatures, although they were faint. Without a doubt, they were not shinobi. The chakra their bodies contained was of a low quantity and unrefined. She doubted any of them would be able to break away, but if they managed to get out of their sight, she wanted to be well aware of what they felt like so that she could find them if the need arose.

Beyond patching up injuries, her other primary function in a group was as a sensor. Since Akio and Daisuke were carrying the Fuin Shugotenshi, she was left with little else to do than keep a watchful eye on their captives and to be aware of anyone tracking their group.

Despite his boastful and open manner, Gai was serious as he eyed their four captives. She refused to think of him as an idiot – he would not have made it to Jounin if he was not capable. Judging by appearance would be foolish.

_And painful. I can't look at him. It's like he's naked, but he's not._

The amber eyed, genjutsu specialist went from captive to captive, marking their faces and clothing with paint – preparing them, in case they needed to use the Kamofuraaji no jutsu in order to disappear. Since the Chuunin Exams, she noted that he had taken to wearing facial paint so that he could more quickly activate genjutsu in combat. There were disadvantages to using paint as a medium for his illusions, but he was able to bypass some of those by wearing it.

The four refugees offered no complaint or resistance as he went about his task, but Arashi noticed a difference in the way her teammate treated them. He was gentle with the boy, brisk with the giant, indifferent with the old man, and impatient with the last one.

Out of all of them, Rento was the one that Daisuke sneered at and refused to stand near any longer than he needed to.

_What did that guy do that made him the one Daisuke hates? Do I even want to know? _She chewed on her lips. _Yeah, I'll ask Akio later._

The rest of the report went on to state that there was Kiri hunter ninjas after them, as well as at least one Suna Jounin. Arashi clicked her tongue. If the scandal they were part of was serious enough for the Mizukage to send some of his men after them, then she knew the pardon was a lie. The Third had to know it, too. They were taking these people to their deaths – in the name of goodwill between two Lands.

She swallowed, thickly, _Well, I don't know how I feel about this, but if they were involved in shady stuff, got caught, ran, and sold out their country? Yeah, whatever is waiting for them is what they get._

They chained each of their captives together by the ankles and then bound their hands. It was going to be a long journey for them, walking in single file.

_I get why they wanted this squad composition. With Daisuke's camouflage, Akio's bugs, and my sensor abilities, we can stay hidden, ambush, and be aware of our opponent's position through the entire mission. Throw in the Jounin for combat experience and we're set._

Daisuke nudged her side, "Put some sort of seal on their legs or something. If they try to run, then you can set it off and immobilize them."

"You want me to blow their legs off?" She asked, flatly.

Daisuke sniffed, "Not that strong of an explosion – not that I care if they lose a leg."

"I guess that makes sense." She conceded. "Shouldn't take me long to set them."

Rento glared at her, "And if they go off and injure us, how would that help your mission? We can't walk if we're crippled and I'm sure you don't want to carry us."

Arashi met his glare, "Good thing I'm a medic. I can mutilate your legs and then have you walking in no time, so I suggest you don't try anything."

They held each other's stare until Daisuke interrupted them.

"I think we should gag each of these guys." He suggested. "Or we'll hear them whine the entire time."

Rento stiffened at the sound of Daisuke's voice and averted his eyes.

_Oh yeah. Something happened between those two._

Without a word, Akio pulled bandaging out of one of his pouches and began to gag each of their captives.

Gai looked over the group, "Is everyone almost ready?"

"A couple more minutes." Arashi pulled out a few supplies. "I think Daisuke's suggestion is a good one."

What she was sealing into their legs was a simple explosive jutsu, from the same classification as paper bombs. The main difference was that the force of the explosion was tuned down enough that it would not destroy their legs or break the bone. By placing them away from major arteries and designing the seal to direct the explosion outward and away from the body, it would keep their captives from bleeding to death. If she had to set them off, they would be immobilized but not dead.

She had used this technique several times, just in different ways. The first time was when she blew up Daisuke's paint. The most recent was when she sealed several of them into trees as a trap and blew bits and pieces of leaves and tree trunk everywhere. It was a basic jutsu that could be useful, depending on the situation.

"I remember when I was your age – rushing toward my goals, taking in as much advice as I could. Embrace the springtime of your life, uphold each other!" Gai clenched his fists.

"Yeah. Youth and stuff. We get it." Daisuke sniffed, "Hold still, Arashi."

A shiver ran up her spine as he applied paint to her skin and clothing. She remembered when that would have caused a fight between the two of them, but now practicality meant more to her than the pristine state of her clothing.

Gai leaned toward them, "What are you doing, by the way?"

"It's a camouflage jutsu." Daisuke replied.

"Oh, I see!"

"Looks like you already got Akio, so I guess the last person that needs it now is our taichou," she commented, suppressing the smirk that tugged at her lips.

His amber eyes narrowed to slits. The entire time that she had been present, Daisuke kept a measured distance away from the Jounin. Just as Arashi was uncomfortable in the Jounin's presence and Akio was annoyed by the man, Daisuke found him unpleasant. Irritation bloomed across his face when he realized that she noticed and then ruined his ploy.

The Aburame chuckled at the exchange.

Daisuke looked at her like he was ready to shove her down an open manhole and into a sewer, "I guess you're right, Shi-Shi-chan."

She smiled, innocently, "Well, y'know, it wouldn't be a sound failsafe if the rest of us could hide, but our taichou was left out."

"What would I ever do without you?" Daisuke asked in an overly sweet tone.

Her voice shook with a barely held in check laugh, "You'd be lost without me."

Akio snorted.

"Come on, Daisuke! I'm ready," he struck a pose and pointed at his abs. "A little bit of paint won't hurt this material - if you can wash blood out of it, you can wash out anything!"

Arashi might have felt terrible - rejected, friendzoned, heartbroken, confused, and exhausted from a lack of sleep - but the nasty look and loud sniff from Daisuke was enough to lift her spirits, even if it was just by a little.

* * *

Just as Arashi expected, the travel was slow and tedious. Every bump in the road, every hill they had to climb, and every bridge they had to cross seemed to usher in a new issue from their captives. Their feet hurt, their ankles were sore, they had difficulties breathing through the cloth that acted as a gag, and they possessed the most nervous bladders she had ever seen anyone suffer with.

She was just glad that none of the guys expected her to take a turn escorting their captives behind a tree or bush to relieve themselves.

_Those silver linings, I guess._

She had yet to pick up a foreign signature and they were still deep enough in the safe routes that bandits were no issue – not that they would present themselves to a group of shinobi without some sort of profit to entice them out of their hiding.

The lack of activity left her too much time to think, which meant she dwelled on thoughts of whether or not she had ruined her dearest friendship.

She frowned.

There was nothing she could do about it while she was on a mission. She tried to comfort herself with the idea that it would be better to give it time before she approached her friend to talk to him about what was said, but it only left her more impatient to get back.

That impatience translated into tension. She was never a fan of sleeping on the ground, relieving herself behind a bush, and going without a decent shower or bath, but her patience was already shortened by other thoughts that were unpleasant.

Daisuke - who was vocal about all of his complaints - was even more agitated than usual. When he was not standing at a distance, trying to distract himself by sketching or drawing the scenery, he was busy bristling at every inconvenience.

Two days of traveling together led to more than a few nasty remarks between the kunoichi and her teammate.

Akio watched them with varying degrees of both amusement and annoyance.

_Ugh._

Since her violent experience in the Forest of Death, they had all made a point to treat each other better. They never spoke of what happened. Without even addressing it, it was unanimously decided that it was a taboo topic. It made them all realize how _real_ the danger was in their lives and how finite their time together was. In retrospect, a few nasty remarks and nothing more was a huge improvement between Arashi and Daisuke, but with the way tension was rising between the two, a full blown argument was not far off.

She took a deep breath. She was not sure what had Daisuke on edge and she had not gotten a chance to ask Akio. It was difficult to talk in secret when the group was together and there was little to no privacy.

In an attempt to avoid that fight, she tried to focus her thoughts on something else.

As she tried to distract herself from her worries involving the Uchiha clan, she kept herself busy by reading different things. Arashi's early studies were focused around becoming a shinobi and the Land of Fire's history, but upon accepting this mission, she decided to look into what sort of people she was dealing with. Everything she read indicated a fierce and brutal stock. Kirigakure was not a pleasant place, especially during the Bloody Mist Era.

The history that they had available about that Land was riddled with war and hard times. Although their population was not the most sizable, their military was not something to be trifled with. There were generations of cold blooded competition between them during their formative years. There was also an emphasis on rewards for putting a mission before themselves and their companions – which was a trend that was common in every shinobi country, but Kirigakure took it to another level. If a student wished to graduate, they first had to slaughter their classmates.

_Yeah, if it was a brawl in my class, then me and Daisuke would've went down fast. _She eyed Akio. _And I think I know who would've dominated everyone. I mean, the sheer gross out factor of the kikaichu is enough to knock me out of the running. I don't even want to think about having to fight him for my life._

Their current Mizukage, Yagura, seemed to go to drastic extents to sever diplomatic connections with other Lands. In comparison to the Land of Fire, it was almost like the Land of Water was in a perpetual battle with itself, but not in such a severity that it weakened it.

_The only reason they haven't been invaded during their rougher periods of infighting is probably because of how difficult it would be to actually invade. All of that water and all of those islands don't make for an appealing battlefield. It would be a disaster. I guess I can see the point in just leaving those people out there to fight each other._

Each Land had their own underhanded trends. The Mizukage, Yagura, might have made a name for himself as being bloodthirsty, but each kage had their own share of bad reputations. The Tsuchikage was a backstabber that cared little for peace - which included the Third Shinobi war. The current Raikage was known for having a temper and being rash. With Arashi's research into the Hyuuga's seal in order to form a good failsafe for her projects, she had discovered as she was digging around that at some point Kumogakure attempted to steal the Hyuuga's heir and then demanded reparations for the loss of their Head Shinobi - the one responsible for the attempted abduction. The Head Shinobi was supposed to be in Konoha to sign a peace treaty. Instead of everything going off without a hitch, war threats ensued. She could not remember anything specifically negative about the Kazekage, but there was gossip of the issues Sunagakure had keeping pace with Iwa and Konoha. It was possibly because of those difficulties that they were so interested in the refugees from Kirigakure.

Arashi frowned.

While the Sandaime Hokage was appreciated for his desire for peace, it was that same peace seeking that the Tsuchikage saw as weakness.

_Thinking of politics makes me tired. Ugh._

If she was to be honest, though, she would have to admit that she found the inner workings between each Land to be fascinating.

Daisuke snapped his fingers in front of her face.

She blinked, "Huh?"

"Finally," he sneered. "I was just wanting to know if you could sense any shinobi in the area."

"Um, nope."

"You sure?" He huffed. "I don't know how much you even pay attention when you're lost in your thoughts like that."

She rolled her eyes, "I wish you'd stop being pissy."

"Pissy?" He hissed. "Coming from _you_, that's pretty funny, Shi-Shi-chan."

"Excuse me? I was just minding my own business. I think it's pretty sad that you don't have anything better to do other than trying to fight with me."

"Watching paint dry is better than talking to you."

"That sounds like a mental deficiency on your part."

The four chained foreigners watched the exchange in a muted silence. Akio's eyebrows rose above his sunglasses and he frowned in disapproval - it was not appropriate to quibble on missions.

"You know what?" Arashi spat the words. "I can't wait until the next time you need the Fuin Shugotenshi refreshed. You won't have that attitude when you're rolling around on the ground like a pus-"

She was interrupted by Konoha's Green Beast.

"Teenage angst - I experienced my own fair share of it when I was your age - but it is no time for fighting between ourselves! We have a mission to focus on," he pushed Arashi toward Daisuke. "Make up and get your mind on our objectives and focus the overwhelming energy of your youth on your bright futures!"

Arashi and Daisuke grimaced.

_This is insane. I am in hell._

The Jounin turned and began herding their captives, "Knees to chest, people! March, march, march! March into the distance!"

The three Chuunin watched him heckle the refugees into motion.

_That is its own form of torture - Ibiki would be impressed, I think._

* * *

By the time they made camp that night, the captives fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the ground, and each of the Chuunin were tired.

_Gai is a slave driver._

"Alright, everyone, gather around the fire and let's share some youthful stories!" The Jounin motioned for everyone to take a seat.

By this point, none of them had the energy to object or come up with an excuse as to why they could not join into his story time. He waited until the three young shinobi were seated together, leaning against each other to stay upright.

"In this life, I have faced many hardships and many defeats, but those defeats only made the victories that much sweeter! As a shinobi, I was not born with natural talent. I have to work three times as hard as the elite to achieve the same results, but with the unrelenting force of youth, I have overcome every obstacle!" He struck a pose - the fire throwing his shadow behind him, wildly, "The best thing I can recommend for anyone is to find a rival to challenge you." He clenched his fist and closed his eyes in concentration. "My rival, the elite shinobi, Kakashi, has proven himself to be worthy of our many challenges over the years."

Arashi blinked, "Kakashi? Hatake Kakashi? He's your rival?"

"My eternal rival!"

Arashi had a hard time imagining the boy she used to pester dealing with Gai. Back then, he was serious, egotistical, difficult, and sometimes he was outright mean. The difference between happy-go-lucky Gai and the man that stepped between her and the Iwa ninjas intent on attacking her at the Chuunin Exams Finals was drastic. They were like night and day. Not that she could claim to know Kakashi. She had not spoken to him since she was six and from what she could tell, he stayed busy with missions. Still, judging by the impression she got from him the only time she had seen him in years, he was still a cold and lonely person. He felt much like most ANBU members in that regard.

Thoughts of him led to thoughts of Minato and Kushina. She wondered how differently things would be if they were still alive and if Naruto was not the one carrying the Kyuubi.

As silly as it was, she regretted letting Kakashi go all those years ago. She was a child and had no clue about how she could have legitimately carried on a friendship with the boy, but it was not in her nature to let people go and this was not the first time she felt a pang of regret over how their _friendship_ ended. Looking back, he was a boy that was in a lot of pain.

_And I was a really weird, awkward, and pushy child. I'm lucky he didn't punt me across a street._

She shuddered at the memory.

* * *

Once Gai was done telling stories of his achievements and the benefits of embracing one's youth, he went to his sleeping bag and was out like a light. His deep snore echoed across the small campsite, but it was now much more peaceful in comparison.

Akio appeared much more at ease now that the Jounin was asleep. He patrolled the area at a leisurely pace and checked to make sure the refugees were settled and still sleeping.

Daisuke was at the corner of their camp, his backpack, kunai pouch, and shuriken bag discarded to the side. As hard as it was for her to sleep without a bed, it was even harder for him. It was never advised for a shinobi to remove their weapons when on a mission involving over shinobi, but he was incapable of sleeping with them strapped on.

At that moment, he was engrossed in a sketch he was working on and paying no attention to anything around him.

_Well, I guess now's an okay time to talk to him. We don't need to stay petty with each other the rest of this mission. It's going to be long enough, as it is._ She took a deep breath and approached him, "Hey, I'm sorry if I was bitchy earlier."

"I should be used to it by now, I guess," he replied without looking up.

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome, Shi-Shi-chan."

She frowned and sat down beside him, "I can tell something's bothering you and I can tell that it has something to do with that one guy, Rento. You don't have to tell me or anything, but I'd like it if whatever's wrong didn't translate to us fighting over stupid stuff the whole time."

Daisuke shrugged a shoulder, "There's not much to talk about."

She arched an eyebrow at him and looked at his sketch. It was a girl. Her face was covered with grime and sweat, but the smile he depicted her with was lovely.

Arashi sighed, "Well, I guess I'll go first - I got turned down and I'm not handling it well. I don't mean to be so quick to take that out on anyone else, but I haven't even had an appetite and I feel like I got punched in the stomach really, really hard. I'm worrying myself sick over how much I've screwed up and I want to be there, working stuff out instead of here." She swallowed over the lump in her throat. "Okay, your turn."

He snorted, "I never agreed to this exchange."

"You don't have to be an ass, y'know"

"Fine," he sniffed. "If you really want to know, there were five refugees, originally. There was a girl that went by the name 'Yori'. I took my time to make sure we weren't dealing with ninjas, since we don't have your weird sixth sense, and I gradually got her to open up to me a little. Things were going great, but right before we made our move to bring these guys in, they killed her. They saw her talking to me, got scared, and took her out because Rento thought she was a liability." He shrugged. "I keep thinking that if I worked faster and made a move _ten minutes_ earlier, then she wouldn't have been murdered like that."

"Oh." Arashi tugged at her scarf, at a loss for words. "Is that who you're drawing?"

"Yeah. I said I'd draw something for her. It was a lie, but it made her smile. I guess it was the last thing that made her happy."

Akio paused near them, "If she wasn't killed at that point, then she would be with these guys, in chains and waiting to be delivered to her death. Would you feel less responsible if she lived a little longer, just for you to personally hand her over to be executed? This is better."

Daisuke frowned, "I know she would have died either way. I just can't stand the fact that she was killed by people that were supposed to be her friends. They were in this together, supposedly watching each other's backs. I can't stand traitors. Sure, death was inevitable for her, but that kind of death was unnecessary. It just bothers me more than it should."

"It's the kind of life we signed up for," Akio replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, it is," Arashi agreed, hesitantly.

It was a hard truth in their lives.

They lapsed into silence for a while.

She chewed on her lips, "You know, me and Itachi meet up to 'catch up'. It keeps us from growing apart too much and it's a good stress reliever. Maybe the three of us need to start doing that?"

"Oh how sweet!" Daisuke huffed. "It'll be like those awkward family get togethers where everyone fights."

Akio snorted.

"You know, every other three man squad stays close, if they're still alive, anyway. I want that for us. I don't want us to lose the friendship we've sorta just begun."

"Rejection makes somebody clingy," Daisuke teased.

"I will kick you in the teeth."

"I don't like sweets," Akio interjected, "So no dango."

Daisuke and Arashi eyed him.

"If we're going to meet up to keep in touch, we should at least have decent food to eat, even if you two argue the whole time."

Daisuke sniffed and turned away from them.

"Oh! We could invite Ibiki Sensei, too." She went through a list in her head of different restaurants and cafes she had been to in and around Konoha. "That way, we might get along a little better? He could mediate."

Akio nodded, "It's a pact, then."

Daisuke crossed his arms, "Just promise we won't end up like some of those squads that can't function properly without each other. I swear, it's like they share a brain or something."

"I don't see that happening with us," Arashi shook her head.

Several signatures entered her range and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end - they were Suna shinobi and they were moving in fast.

"Guys," she jumped to her feet. "Incoming - three!"

Daisuke cursed under his breath and started strapping bags and pouches back onto his body. Akio sprinted to the fire to extinguish it.

_Just great!_ Arashi rushed over to Gai and shook his shoulder, "Taichou, incoming!"

He snorted away and shot up, groggily, "Huh?"

"Three Suna ninja!" She hissed.

He shook the sleep from his body and perked up, "Seems like we've got some trouble with a capital T coming!"

_Seriously? You cheesy weirdo._

Daisuke formed a handseal and the chakra trapped in the paint activated all around him. In seconds, the four captives and the four shinobi blended into their surroundings and disappeared from sight.

Arashi shifted to another position, _This jutsu is wonderful. Thank you, Daisuke._

Akio, Daisuke, and Gai directed the refugees away from the camp and made the area look abandoned - if it threw them from their trail, then it would grant them more time to plan a counter ambush.

_We need to handle this, carefully. This isn't like the Forest of Death. These guys aren't going to be Genin, trying to make Chuunin. They're probably Jounin._

Two of the three held back, while one hovered around the perimeter of their _abandoned_ campsite.

_He has an earth affinity. Not a huge amount of chakra, but a good amount._

Just as the scout began to move away, a strangled cry came from one of the refugees - the boy had managed to work his gag loose, "Help! We're here! Help!"

_Great._

* * *

Alright. That's it for chapter 29. I really hope that I didn't completely butcher Gai's character, but I've never really written him before and I wasn't sure about what I was doing. xD ah! The mission will be completed next chapter and hopefully it won't take me long to finish it.

Thank you to everyone that reads, favorites, and follows this fanfiction. It is all appreciated. If anyone has an opinion, a criticism, or a suggestion, then feel free to share it in a review or message. :) I'm open to all forms of feedback.

* * *

**Nameless:** I have to admit that I've always preferred calling him Gai. I just wanted to sort of see what the consensus was on it. :) As for Kakashi, at this point in his life, he's busy isolating himself. He's in his early 20s, a member of ANBU, and very busy with missions and dealing (poorly) with PTSD and depression. As much as I love him and miss having him as an active part in the story, this point in his life would not click well with Arashi as she is now.

Part 3 is a completely different situation, though. :P Thank you for your review!

**Misora Asuka**: Honestly, writing Itachi makes me sad. Just imagine if the massacre never happened, or if it was carried out by other people and he was allowed to stay? I'd be he would have ended up as Hokage - just imagine what sort of things he would have accomplished!

Sadly, in canon the massacre did happen and Itachi's story was nothing but tragic. :( Because of that, it transfers over into most fanfiction. It's hard to find a good AU involving Itachi still living in Konoha.

Thank you for your review!

**Windschatten**: Yes, Arashi got her feelings off her chest and now she gets to stress about it in embarrassment. xD It's just another step toward growing up for her and although it is kinda sad, it's necessary.

"Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been." - John Greenleaf Whittier

I'm glad that you noticed Kazika! With age, I'm getting to write him with added insights and a more mature perspective. He might have started off blowing snot bubbles, but he'll eventually be a character with depth by the time I'm done with him (hopefully). xD

I love Arashi's team, but when I think of them I think of a dysfunctional family or something like that. I mean, there are boys that when they see a girl that needs emotional support or if there's a guy making her uncomfortable, those boys will go right to her aid. With Akio and Daisuke, I think they'd sooner laugh in her face over her discomfort or not even notice that she's upset. They've come a long way, but they still have quite a distance to travel. haha

I hope this chapter turned out well and I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you for your review! I always love them. :)

**Llyrica**: I'm not saying when the massacre happens, but it is certainly soon! :)

I had suspicions that Itachi wasn't quite as evil as they made him out to be and when they revealed what was really up in the manga, I cried. It made me really fall in love with the character, even though I adored him as a villain.

Thank you for your review and I hope you like the next chapters! It won't be long before I get to work on part 3.


	30. A Deal with the Devil

**Chapter 30:** **A Deal with the Devil**

Well, I finally have this done. I'm never comfortable when I write combat scenes, so I apologize if there's anything clunky or forced about it. I'd like to thank everyone that continues keeping up with this fanfiction! Also, please look over any typos that may have slipped in. They're sneaky.

And, psst, Windschatten's "Tale of Two Leaves" is my current fanfiction obsession (if you guys can't already tell). xD

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: A struggle breaks out on the way to the rendezvous point and Gai is fabulous.

* * *

**Chapter Song**: Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory

* * *

**Chapter 30**

The boy continued to wail until Akio muffled his cries by cramming the gag back into his mouth.

The Suna shinobi's eyes narrowed and he leapt back – but Gai was already in motion.

His movements were so quick that the air around him distorted. The scout's focus snapped toward him, but there was no time to react. For a second that lapsed into two, the three Chuunin stared as Gai transformed into a green beast of grace and speed. Before their eyes, he became an avatar of battle – slightly visible, despite the Kamofuraaji no jutsu, because of the distortion around him. He was fluid as he took the initiative.

The scout was met by a kick that resounded with a loud crack – the sound of his teeth being smashed out of his face.

The man fell to the ground.

From a short distance away, chakra circulated to the tip of one of the two remaining Suna ninja's hands. Arashi's eyebrows knit together and she grit her teeth. The chakra's affinity was air. She knew how deadly even a small amount of wind chakra could be when used correctly.

"Taichou, take cover!"

Several wind blades sliced through the night air – cutting through two trees on the way to their location.

Gai swayed around them, as nimble on his feet as any dancer.

Arashi fell back to a safer position, several steps away from the area the shinobi's jutsu was barraging. Their squad was indistinguishable from their surroundings. Their cover coupled with the distance resulted in no clear targets for him go after.

_But he's not meaning to aim. He intends to pin us down with his blades to keep us from moving. One wrong step and any of us could lose a limb or get cut in half._

The third Suna shinobi – she noted that he had an earth affinity – began to advance.

"We have one moving in!" She warned them.

The wind blades kept Akio and Daisuke pinned down with the captives. Even Gai took cover behind an outcropping of rocks. The deep gouges in the ground and the fallen trees around them were enough incentive to be cautious.

There was nothing she could do.

_Even if I could go around and ambush either of those guys, I'm no match for a Jounin, or even just a Chuunin in direct combat._ She cursed under her breath. _Oh, well. He can't keep that jutsu up forever. He's burning through his chakra._

The full moon over their heads illuminated the area, but not enough to make their enemies visible.

The signatures of hundreds of Kikaichu began to flood out of Akio's body. Arashi's hair stood on end, but she forced herself to remain focused.

A kunai landed in the center of their now abandoned campsite. All of their eyes widened. A paper bomb flapped in the breeze for a second – then it exploded.

Arashi shielded her eyes as dirt and debris shot through the area. The Kikaichu scattered with the wind from the blast – and the faint signature of the scout was snuffed out.

Across from her, Daisuke cursed and the chains that bound their captives together began to clink as a struggle broke out. Even with the gags in place, their muffled cries were enough to give away their position.

The Suna shinobi responsible for the paper bomb – the one with the earth affinity – rushed toward the sound.

Arashi tensed. She could feel Akio trying to subdue the giant of a man and being thrown around as he did so. She was reminded of the reference to his size as being an issue in the report she read before they set out on this missions days before.

The wind blades continued to barrage the area, but the Suna shinobi shot through them and found the refugees.

Daisuke stepped in his way. For his genjutsu to work, the enemy had to _see_ the paint, whether it was hidden or not, but that was difficult in the dead of night. Instead of reaching for a scroll or trying to perform a different genjutsu, he lashed out with a kunai.

It met its mark, leaving a gash that ran up the length of the Jounin's arm – but he retaliated with his own kunai, now aware of Daisuke's position.

Blood from both of the shinobi splattered across the ground, as dark as ink in the moonlight.

Daisuke jumped back, dodging another swing that was directed toward him. The seals within his body activated and chakra radiated through the area, mending the injury.

The Suna shinobi wasted no time. He grasped outward and found one of the refugees – the child that gave their position away. With one quick movement, he broke the chain and jerked the kid away with him.

_Shit!_

Before anyone could do anything – pinned down by the wind blades or injured, as Daisuke was – the Jounin bolted away from their location.

Now that the chain was broken, the captives tried to run.

_Sorry, guys._ Arashi grit her teeth. _Can't just let you escape._

She activated the seals planted in all of their legs.

Each of their muffled cries turned to shrieks of agony as a series of small explosions went off. The brute that had been giving Akio trouble fell over with the rest of the refugees. There was no running away for them now.

"We need to take out the guy that has us pinned like this!" Gai called out to them.

"We need to get him to stop throwing those blades at us!" Arashi called back.

"Already on it." Akio informed them.

The kikaichu regrouped around the Aburame and then surged toward the remaining Suna shinobi. The blades continued to strike the area around them, but they never touched the insects that were honing in on their enemy.

A few moments passed and the kikaichu found their target – Arashi could feel the pinpoints of their signatures swarming around the shinobi.

The barrage of blades let up.

"Now!" Gai leaped out from behind the rocks with a roar. "Let our youth overflow and overtake our adversaries!"

Arashi squinted in his direction.

"No." Akio disagreed. "Leave me with Daisuke. I doubt that anything will come up, but if more shinobi move in to take these refugees, someone else will need to be here to fend them off."

The medic frowned, "Was the injury bad?"

"I'm just _peachy_." He hissed, rubbing his side. "Just take care of this mess. Your seals already patched me up."

"Alright!" Gai grabbed her shoulder and squeezed, "It's the two of us, then! Look after the refugees and our comrade, Akio."

The Aburame stared at him.

"Taichou…" Arashi whispered.

"Yes, we need to hurry!" Gai bellowed.

"That guy won't be getting too far." Daisuke sniffed. "The kunai I cut him with? Poisoned. The more he runs, the quicker it will circulate through his system."

"Good thinking, Daisuke," Gai shot a thumbs up and a bright smile at him.

"Yeah, well, you can all line up and pat me on the back when you finish taking those guys out."

Their squad leader nodded.

The Jounin's strides were longer and faster than hers. It was hard for her to keep up, but she was not about to complain. They needed to take this guy out as fast as they could and then set themselves to tracking down the one getting away.

_I hope that Daisuke was the only one that thought to use poison in that scuffle. Hm._ She doubted that she had anything to worry about, but the thought nagged at her. _Alright, he won't need healing. I couldn't tell if the bleeding was severe or just a graze with so little light, but I doubt he lost much._ She chewed on her lips. _If he didn't ask me to look after him, I'm going to assume everything will be fine until I get back._

She pushed the thoughts away from the front of her mind_._

Arashi cleared her throat, "He's not far away."

They passed through the trees, bounding from branch to branch. She could feel the Suna shinobi trying to peel away from the insects.

_That's never going to happen._

He was so preoccupied with the kikaichu that he did not notice their approach.

"Konoha Tsumuji Senpukuu!" Gai leaped out of the tree and nailed the man with a chakra infused, roundhouse kick.

Arashi flinched as bones audibly broke from the force of the attack and the shinobi crumpled to the ground.

"Did you just yell out a jutsu's name?" she regarded Gai.

He looked at her in confusion, "Of course. What you just witnessed was my Konoha Tsumuji Senpukuu!"

"It was a kick."

"Yes, it was." He eyed her. "You know, if you're that interested, I could teach you. Hmm." He poked her arms. "You're a little scrawny, so you'll have to train hard to build some muscle…"

A shiver ran down her spine. She could only imagine having him as a Sensei.

"No – you're missing my point. Taking into account a burst of chakra or not, that was a kick. Isn't it redundant to call out what you're doing? I mean, every time I punch someone, should I yell 'Punch no Jutsu'?"

"Of course not, Arashi. In heated combat, you would run out of breath if you announced every move." He closed his eyes in meditation, "Ahh, the curiosity and naiveté of youth!"

She could have sworn that she heard waves of water crashing against a cliff, except they were still far away from the coast.

_I think it's just some of my brain cells dying._ She pursed her lips and looked away, "Let's just find the last guy, Taichou."

"Of course. We can't let him get away. Tracking him at night will be difficult, but he should be leaving a trail of blood from the injury Daisuke gave him."

Arashi shook her head, "I'll find him. Just track him as much as you can to keep up and I will alert you to where he is. He'll be distracted by my presence and that will give you the opportunity to take initiative."

He slapped her back, playfully, which knocked her forward a couple steps.

"Good thinking! Ibiki had some sharp students under his wing. Forge ahead, Arashi!"

She bit the tip of her finger and formed several hand-seals and braced herself. Her ears rang with the now familiar pull of the space-time ninjutsu and a gale of wind rushed past them.

_I hate what that jutsu does to my ears._ She worked her jaw. _I wish my body would just get used to it or something._

Sukai glided above them in a circle, waiting for instruction.

Gai stared up at him, "That's a big bird."

"I'll ride on Sukai's back to catch up with him— "

"And after I've finished up here," He pointed over his shoulder at their unconscious enemy, "I'll follow on the ground and keep an eye out for your signal."

"Exactly, taichou."

Arashi jumped from branch to branch and then onto the falcon's back.

"_Ak_?"

"We need to go hunting."

"While flying blind?"

"Is the moonlight not enough for you to manage?"

"I can fly, but spotting prey will be harder."

"I'll be your eyes."

"_Akak?_ Very well, little Arashi. Which direction?"

"Fly toward the moon."

The falcon beat his wings against the air and brought them about. The wind pushed her hair back and away from her face. She focused on scanning the area. The three captives still in their custody were alive, Akio was fine, Daisuke's signature was still strong, and Gai was following below.

_Hmm._

The last Suna shinobi had managed to get far away in the time it took for them to deal with his companion, but it was a double bladed sword. The more he moved, the quicker the poison spread through his body. Even now, she could feel his chakra weakening, while the child's signature was as strong as it ever was.

"Bring us a little higher from the trees. We aren't getting involved. Not yet, anyway."

Her stomach felt small as they climbed upward. Her eyes strained as she tried to make out the scenery, but everything was dark, except for the few outlines she could perceive. The terrain below was not kind. She was all too aware of that from traveling through the area and she knew that the foreigner would not find it any easier.

_Especially with a kid he has to carry._ Her fingers dug into the feathers on Sukai's back. "Turn us a little to the left."

"Are we drawing closer?"

"Yeah, it won't take long for us to overtake him."

She would be lying if she claimed that she was not spoiled to the efficiency of flight. Travels that would take days on foot were cut down, immensely. Harsh terrains were inconsequential when they would fly above them.

Arashi also felt safer, out of reach from any enemies that might think to strike out against them.

"Here!" She shifted, "This area!"

He tilted one wing and began circling.

She formed several more hand-seals, took a deep breath, and blew a fireball into the air. The night sky lit up with the flames – the best flare that she could manage in such short notice. Upon seeing the signal, Gai's signature picked up speed.

_He's crazy fast._

Their target changed courses, but his movement was much more sluggish. He was struggling.

_It's pretty much over for him._ She nudged Sukai a few times, "Shift over a bit farther, he's moving."

"_Akak._"

She sent another ball of fire into the air as a second signal. They repeated the process twice more, trailing behind their target.

Gai surged through the forest and she felt his signature collide with the Suna shinobi's for a split second before it flickered out

Another chill went up her spine. Their leader had ended the life of each of their opponents with _one_ move. He was one of the most dangerous people she had ever worked with, even if he was one of the most eccentric people she had ever met with his strange clothing, over the top personality, and strange quirks.

_There's no way me, Akio, and Daisuke could have handled all three of those guys on our own. The scout probably would have been the end of us without Gai around._ She clicked her tongue, "Alright, Sukai. You can let me down. I need to check things out."

The falcon's flight dipped so that she could safely slip from his back and into a tree. She focused chakra to her feet and ran down the trunk until her boots met with the ground. The urgency of the situation was fading and the tips of her fingers tingled as a measure of peace flood her senses – all she had to do was get the kid, grab her taichou, and go back to check on Daisuke. Whether her jutsu healed him or not, it did not deal with poison. What could have amounted to the failure of their mission was averted by a beast of a man in what was basically a green, spandex onesie.

Whatever peace was flooding through her senses was abruptly swept away.

The child drug himself across the ground, his fingers digging deep into the fallen leaves and dirt. A trail of blood was behind him from the injuries on his legs – caused by her fuinjutsu. Gai stood at a short distance, his features trained into the closest thing to a passive mask he could muster. The kid pulled himself into the gnarled roots of an old tree and sobbed into the ground.

Her instincts told her to comfort him, to soothe his pain, to wipe the tears from his face as she would for Naruto or Kazika. He looked so young that it made her stomach twist. In just a few years, Naruto would be his age and then a couple years after that, Kazika would eleven.

She took a step toward him, crunching dead leaves under her boot.

"No!" He choked out. "I don't wanna die! Please, just let me go!"

Arashi frowned. _Of course they know they're going to their deaths. Everyone knows._

She forced herself to focus on the mission. What was giving her problems was his age.

_But when I was his age, I was a Genin. I was being trained by Ibiki Sensei to be a weapon. Itachi was in ANBU at this kid's age. Whether you're young or old, it doesn't matter._

This was a mission and these people were doomed, regardless of what she did. Even if they let this child go – failing the mission, in the process – then he would be tracked by other shinobi and eventually killed. By turning him over in a show of goodwill between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, it was using their deaths as a way to keep peace. Any peace between the Lands meant more lives spared.

She still did not like what they had to do.

_It's better to die for something than it is to die for nothing, isn't it?_ She chewed on her lips. _Why couldn't it have been the rude one out of the refugees begging me right now? I wouldn't feel half as bad for him._

Gai held his ground, watching her as she stared at the child. She braced herself and her left hand tingled with medical chakra.

"Please! Please, please, _please_!" He shrieked. "Just let me go! I don't wanna die!"

Arashi placed the hand on his forehead and in seconds, the child's pleas faded into sleep.

"Taichou, would you please carry him for me?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

* * *

As soon as they made it back, she assessed the damage to their group. Akio and Gai were alright. They had received no injuries during the conflict. Each of their captives needed attention after she set the seals off. She was in no rush to tend to their injuries. As cold as it was, she had no problem letting them ache for a little while for putting the lives of her squad in danger. She glanced toward Daisuke – who was standing to the side with his arms crossed over his chest and his nose scrunched up in disdain.

"You doing alright?" She touched his forehead. "Feeling normal?"

He stepped back from her touch and rolled his eyes, "I'm fine. I'll let you know if I think there's anything wrong."

She pulled her hand back and gave him his space.

"How long have you been carrying poisoned kunai? You didn't use that tactic before."

"Yeah, well," he shrugged, "my genjutsu works fine in most situations, but it doesn't finish the job."

"Ah." She nodded, stiffly. "I see your point."

Arashi turned from him and looked over their captives. It would not take her long to fix the wounds on their legs so that they could walk, but she wished it had not come to such drastic measures.

_Can I really blame them? I'd fight as hard as I could, if I was in their situation._

She took a deep breath and set herself to work. They all avoided eye contact. Instead, they stared dejectedly into the distance. They must have known that the Suna agents after them were their last chance.

The final one she focused on was the child. She figured that since he was unconscious, he would not mind waiting. The others did not have the privilege of sleeping through the pain. By the time she finished with him, he began to stir.

Akio and Daisuke stood by her side through the process, their arms crossed. If not for the kid working loose from his gag and crying out, they would have avoided the conflict altogether.

"The hell was that, kid?" the amber eyed boy hissed.

The child's frightened eyes snapped to Daisuke.

"Do you think getting stabbed is nice? I can tell you, it doesn't tickle."

Arashi snorted, "A tickle with a knife?"

"Oh yeah – you know it. I'm about to give this kid a gentle _tickling_ with my kunai."

"Youthfully." Akio added.

Daisuke and Arashi eyed Akio, dubiously. He shrugged in response.

* * *

_Well._

The next days were quiet. There was tension, but it was muted. The captives offered no more complaints and their eyes no longer searched for any hope of escape.

Arashi tried to distract herself from their defeat. Even the rest of their squad seemed to avoid addressing anything about the mission. Akio spent his time examining insects or keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Daisuke sketched and painted scenery, relentlessly.

Gai made sure that they continued their break-neck pace, but there were no objections. Nothing they could say would deter him from driving them forward. He was obsessed with pushing limits and no one was safe.

He was still loud, boastful, and energetic, but she noted how he would avoid eye contact with their captives as much as she did. She realized that even though he was a Jounin and that he had likely been through things she did not care to imagine, he was just as shaken by the boy's pleas as she was. A good heart was a good heart, and unlike countless other shinobi, she could see no darkness in him.

Her initial stance of disconcertion around him was replaced with appreciation.

He gave her a measure of hope that she did not have to embrace darkness and lose all of herself to it in order to succeed. One of her greatest fears was to be a cold, hollow shell like many of the members of ANBU she had been near and dealt with while under Ibiki's tutelage. Even Itachi had been growing more distant and colder than ever before.

It was his warmth that she loved most of all and the thought of losing it was enough to make her feet heavier with each step.

_All of this compromise. _She shook her head. _I don't even know if I'll have a friendship waiting for me when I get back – and even if I do, I've went and made everything so awkward. He now knows that I have feelings for him and that rejection is going to be like a bear in the room. Ignoring it won't make it go away._

She frowned.

_Still, there's time, I think. We're both young and we have a lot to do. These are our formative years – we're at the age that will shape the rest of our careers. _

She ran her fingers over her scarf.

_And he was kind when he turned me down. He didn't say that he had no feelings for me, just that he couldn't be with me. He might have only said it like that to be nice, but…_

For the first time in days, she smiled to herself.

_Who knows where we'll be in the future? I mean, in five years, maybe situations will change. Maybe we'll no longer be just friends, but something more? And even if that doesn't happen, I can always hope. It's not like either of us died simply because we can't be in a relationship right now._

If anything, the situation with the Uchiha clan and how aggressively they targeted her family because of her connections with Itachi only pushed her toward a vendetta. She had not mentioned to Itachi what her new dream was – because it involved wooing him and taking a place in his clan.

_I can only imagine what those bastards would think if I ended up marrying their future clan leader – ohh, how they'd squirm._

She cleared her throat and scanned her companions.

_I have other people to think of and look after, too. It's going to be hilarious trying to organize lunches with Akio, Daisuke, and Ibiki. We'll probably just have to catch Sensei in his office and bring extra food for him. Beyond that, I have Naruto and Kazika working on becoming shinobi. They don't even know what they're in for. _She snorted. _And I still have so much to learn from Dad. Mom's been lonely and stressed out; too, so maybe doing some stuff with her will help distract me from my first experience of heartache. I'm sure she'll eat the attention up._

She took a deep breath and embraced the positive aspects of her life.

_And then there's the new step in my project. I have no idea how long it will take me to get it working, but when I do, it's gonna be epic…_

Arashi had a full life to focus on. She would pick up the pieces of her friendship with Itachi and move on from there once she made it back to Konoha. As of now, she needed to focus on their mission.

She did not like taking these people to their deaths, but she was not the one at fault. She wondered who their master was and what kinds of scandals they were involved in. They were apparently serious ones. When she thought about it, there were many aspects of being a shinobi that she did not care for.

Arashi had been a naïve six year old – then again, who was not?

* * *

She knew they were close to the coast by the smell of salt water in the air.

After nearly a week of travel, they were almost to the rendezvous point. It struck her as odd that they were meeting them at the southern coast – not closer to Kirigakure. Then again, she doubted the refugees were going to be taken back to the Hidden Village.

_If we're meeting ANBU, then maybe it's a squad that had a different mission somewhere else and changed their course or something, so they could meet us?_

It did not matter.

_Huh?_

Several bursts of chakra caught her attention.

Many of them she recognized as being from Tanigakure – they were near the Land of Rivers, after all. She pursed her lips. Regardless of proximity, they had no business in the Land of Fire. She focused on the other signatures and found that three of them were from Kirigakure.

She was also familiar with two of them, but she could not place who they were.

One by one, the signatures of Tanigakure were snuffed out.

"Guys," she stopped walking. "We need to wait a little while. There's something going on at the rendezvous point."

Several pairs of eyes turned toward her.

"What do you mean?" Gai shifted closer to her. "Look into my eyes – admire my manly features – and tell me what you sense, Arashi!"

"Erm."

He grabbed her shoulders and leaned even closer to her, until their faces were mere inches apart.

"Uhh, just a scuffle, taichou. We should just let them settle it, right?"

He released her and nodded, "Update me when it's safe to proceed."

_I think I need a shower now._

It did not take long for the conflict to end.

_It's unsettling how quickly all of those shinobi were wiped out. What have those Kiri nin been up to?_

"Alright, I think we're good to go," she announced.

They entered the rendezvous point with caution. There was no guarantee that this encounter would be peaceful and that the Kirigakure ANBU members would not turn on them. The hair on the back of Arashi's neck stood on end – if this turned nasty, she doubted she would walk away from the encounter.

Mist gathered around them and with each step it became thicker.

_This stuff is packed with chakra._

Within moments, they could no longer see in front of them. Arashi waved a hand in front of her face and snorted. Low visibility was bad.

_Okay, so, this is definitely a jutsu. Leftover from their previous fight?_

The signatures of the Kiri nin were still ahead, waiting. The familiarity of the two of them nagged at her. She shook her head. It was not their chakra that was dispersed around them and she needed to focus on more serious possibilities.

Arashi's skin tingled and her senses flared – the chakra's nature in the mist shifted to what she recognized as a yin-yang release.

"Guys!" she turned to warn her companions.

They were gone.

_What? But, they should be right there. I can still read their signatures, but they've vanished?_

She could feel the chakra surging through her system, overriding her senses.

_A genjutsu?_

Arashi bit her lip and tried to focus on the pain – on something that she knew was real. Bits and pieces of what Itachi had explained to her about perceptions and reality flashed through her mind, but it was difficult for her to focus on those memories.

A whisper hissed by her ear.

She pulled away and looked around. No one was there. She was alone in the mist.

Another whisper began near her and then another with it.

"I know this isn't real." She insisted and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, nothing had changed, except for the quantity of voices around her. They chorused together until it became a low drone, building in volume as her heart hammered against her ribs. She tried to focus on the signatures of her companions, but although she knew they were near her, they felt far away.

A chill ran through her body. It was so intense that her lungs burned and her veins ached. Her breath came out as puffs.

"Dammit…"

Her teeth chattered and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm her clammy skin.

Even if she knew this was a genjutsu, she did not know how she could get out of it. All of the lessons she received from the Academy were now vague, like her mind was foggy. The increasing drone of the voices around her was so loud that she could not hear herself think.

She had to get out of this – she had to find a way to be useful.

All of Arashi's senses screamed that there was danger. The shinobi they were dealing with were not run of the mill ninjas. They were Black Ops and they were lethal. She had never dealt with enemies of this caliber before.

The longer she was in this jutsu, the longer they had to do whatever they wanted. She did not know how her teammates were holding up under this, but she knew they were all in trouble.

She tried to take a step, but her body locked up.

_No, no no!_

Muscle spasms ran through her and brought her to her knees. She could not move, she could not focus, and breathing was painful. Her head felt like it was going to split open at any moment.

Then the droning stopped as a shadow passed over her.

She peered up and her breath hitched in her throat.

Three shadows moved through the mist – appearing to almost dance – circling her. She felt like they were toying with her, as if she was a mouse and they were cats.

One stepped forward and stood over her.

The shadows around its body distorted and shifted until the visage of something demonic – worse, a devil – was revealed to her. She knew his chakra, but not in such a form. A taste of rot and what she could only describe as despair flooded her mouth.

"So, they've finally made it," one of the shadows commented, its voice undeniably feminine.

"I guess dragging trash all the way down here was on the tedious side," the other shadow commented. "At least it's over with now. Are we going to take them for questioning or what?"

Arashi blinked and tried to force herself to focus.

The last shadow, the one that stood in front of her, snorted, "There's no point. The only pardon they will ever receive is death."

"Very well," the female replied.

The shadows flickered out of sight and all at once – in what could not have been more than a split second – the genjutsu broke, and her teammates reappeared.

The four captives were at their feet, decapitated.

Instead of shadows, three Kiri ANBU members stood across from them. Their leader wiped the blood from his katana, not caring that he was in the presence of other shinobi. He no longer looked like a devil, but the image would not leave her mind and the taste remained in her mouth to remind her of what had just happened.

With a jolt, she realized who it was.

"Sen?" The name left her tongue before she could stop it.

He shifted to regard her through the slits in his mask. Her throat tightened.

When he replied, there was an almost amused note to it, "This deal is finished. Go back to your village."

Akio grabbed the back of Arashi's shirt and pulled the rattled kunoichi to her feet.

_Oh kami, my brother's hero is the devil._

Without a word or a backwards glance, they left the area.

* * *

Alright, that's the end of chapter 30! Back to Konoha after this. :) Thank you to everyone that continues to read, follow, review, and favorite this! Everything is appreciated! If you have any suggestions, criticisms, or opinions, then please feel free to include them in a review.

* * *

**a Wiccan**: Thank you for the review!

I'm flattered you spent your day reading my fanfiction. :) I've put quite a bit of work into it and I have to admit that I'm direly looking forward to writing Kakashi in part 3. He might not have been present in part 2, but he'll be getting quite a bit of focus soon. I've had interactions between him and Arashi planned since before I started writing her as a six year old and even though it has taken me more time than I expected (part 2 continued demanding more development as I worked on it), my goal is to intertwine Arashi with canon events. I don't intend for her to steal the spotlight, though, since I made her a support role as a shinobi. She's there to back up her friends and allies and to show the Naruto universe through a different set of eyes and with a different perspective.

I'm glad you've enjoyed it up to this point and I hope you continue enjoying it. :)

**Windschatten**: hahaha xD I love this review! I'm glad that you reciprocated my little joke. :) I hope that you enjoy this chapter, too! There was fighting, running, flying, bleeding, death, stuff, and things.

**jazzie1019**: Oh my. If they were Naruto's age and competing against Team 7, then things wouldn't be pretty. Since they're different ages, they'll get to interact in a different way. I'm not sure how friendly they'd be with each other. I know that Akio, Arashi, and Daisuke would hate Sasuke. Probably find young Sakura annoying. Naruto… I'm not really sure what they'd think. That he was a moron, probably. xD

xD haha thank you for your review!

**534467lc**: I'm glad that you enjoyed the joke concerning Gai! I've been planning on introduce him into the story for a while. :) Thank you for your review!

**Misora Asuka**: Ahh! I totally get what you said in your review. For some reason, I didn't think about the incident between Kumo and Konoha as being a tightly kept secret. I agree that it wouldn't have been common knowledge. xD Now I'm tempted to go back and change that part. That paragraph was added in not too long before I posted the chapter and it was kinda late, so my thought processes weren't what they should have been. Mayybe I can write it off as a document she found while digging around in Hiruzen's stuff, since most people don't have access to his library and a correspondence or documentation of the event wouldn't be on the list of "do not touch" things. Dx But I might just change it.

haha Maybe I should think twice before last minute changes and posting right away, huh?

Anyhoo, thank you for the review! I didn't mean for the first part to be confusing (or maybe I did... a little). It was meant as more of a joke between me and another fanfiction author. The chapter technically begins with Arashi crying in the alley.

I'm glad you like the dynamics of the team, though. Still portraying them with that same love-hate relationship was one of my main goals for the chapter. Add in Gai and a mission that originally would have been ridiculously boring is a little more bearable. xD

Thank you for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)


	31. What the Rain Could Not Wash Away

**Chapter 31: What the Rain Could Not Wash Away**

This is a chapter I've looked forward to writing and yet dreaded at the same time. Please, overlook any typos that managed to sneak in and let me know what you all think. :D I think this might be the shortest chapter I've written for part 2. Oh well! I hope you all like it!

* * *

**Song**: Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek

* * *

**Chapter Summary**: Arashi faces a harsh reality.

* * *

**Chapter 31: What the Rain Could Not Wash Away**

Dark clouds gathered in the sky for as far as Arashi could see. Thunder boomed in the distance and flashes of lightning announced the presence of the storm. The wind buffeted against Sukai and the four shinobi on his back.

They were within a day's travel by foot from Konoha. Since they left the rendezvous point, each person in their squad avoided the subject of their mission. There was no open celebration or lighthearted banter – just a focus on getting to their village. Arashi found herself haunted by memories of the genjutsu they were caught in and the sight of the bodies around them once the illusion broke.

Even if she hated to admit it, she was shaken by the event. The lack of comment from the rest of the squad made her think that Akio and Daisuke were as uncomfortable as she was, at least. Gai was a Jounin and bounced back to his cheerful self with gusto. If not for the wind ripping the words away as soon as they left his mouth, then they would have been barraged by more than a few of his strange proclamations.

_We'll be back soon and I'll have other things to focus on and deal with._

The thought of facing Itachi again made her fidget. She hoped that he would brush it off and treat her as kindly as he always had, but a part of her feared he would avoid her worse than ever. He had little enough time as it was; he did not need to deal with a love sick kunoichi.

_But I'm not just a girl with a crush. I'm his friend._

She swallowed over a lump in her throat.

_I just don't know how I should even break the ice. 'Hey, let's get Sasuke and play hide and seek again,' could work, I guess. _She sighed. _How shameless of me… wanting to use his little brother as a method to spend time with him._

She would have to deal with it before long.

_I can't avoid it forever._

Lightning snaked by them in a web, blinding them for a few seconds.

"_Akak!_ We should not fly in this!"

Arashi chewed on her lips and nodded, "We're not far from the village. Just let us down and go back."

She did not have to tell the falcon twice. He veered downward – earning a collection of protests from the ninjas on his back – and leveled out worryingly close to the ground. Trees flashed by them as he decided on a place to land.

As soon as his talons touched down and they were fully grounded, he disappeared. Arashi landed in mud and choked on the cloud of smoke that her summon left behind. Daisuke cursed by her ear and Akio grunted in protest.

"So rude!" she hissed at the smoke. "Freaking jerk!"

Not only was she drenched from rain, she was now covered in mud. The rest of her squad fared no better from the landing – except for Gai. Their leader was the only one that had the sense to jump from the bird's back and not land face first in mud.

"This blows." Daisuke sniffed. "We're going to be running through rain now."

Gai clapped the boy on the back, "Don't fret, Daisuke! Persevere and your youth will carry you through!"

The three chuunin eyed him.

"But, as I was once your age, I know what it's like to stand through a boring debriefing when you're ready to use that time to chase your dreams and be everything you can be. When we make it back to the village, I'll turn the report in and the rest of you can go home."

"Well, I guess that's cool." Arashi mumbled.

As boring as a debriefing was, she did not mind them. It was nice to turn a mission in and report success – and this was their first B ranked mission together. Even if it had been an unpleasant experience, she wanted to be proud of their success.

"Now!" Gai pointed down the road. "Let's see who can reach the village gates first! Step to it!"

* * *

By the time they reached Konoha, Arashi felt like she was dying. Her chest ached, her lungs burned, and her legs felt like limp noodles. Daisuke, while still ahead of her, was not faring much better. Akio had been several meters ahead of them and holding his pace, but Gai had left the three of them behind long before.

_He's impossible._

The three chuunin stood, doubled over, at the gates as they tried to catch their breaths.

The only thing that helped her run through the pain was focusing on Akio's and Daisuke's signatures. She needed to make more headway with her next set of seals. Shinobi with a small pool of chakra, like Daisuke, would prosper from the jutsu. Beyond that, she hoped to make the Fuin Shugotenshi self-reliant if the next seals she was developing could successfully convert a portion of the host's chakra into the proper nature and then store it for later use.

Her mind was now foggy from exhaustion and it was hard for her to focus on all of the work she still needed to do. The revelation that her jutsu would not help someone against severe poisons was another concern she wanted to address – at a later time.

"You guys sound like old men with a chronic smokers cough." Kotetsu teased.

They glared at him and then at the other gate guard.

Kotetsu and Izumo glanced at each other.

Izumo shrank back, "Um, welcome back, kids."

Arashi and Daisuke ignored him. Akio grunted.

Arashi was not in the mood to deal with any Uchiha – those that were kind to her or otherwise. Her hair was plastered to her face, her clothes were stained from mud, and she was sure she stank after their vigorous sprint.

_I just won't even be bothered by any of that mess. Not until tomorrow._

She continued to focus on the signatures of the people directly around her in order to block out the signatures of the people she did not want to face. It was hard to not think about something when she knew she would end up sensing them in the village, so she set herself to blocking them out.

* * *

Arashi paused in front of her home. She had made it all the way there without being hounded by the Police Force – which was nice – to find her father's signature inside.

_Dad's home? At this time?_

She tucked wet strands of hair behind her ears.

_That's strange._

She frowned.

_Well. Whatever, I'm getting a shower and going to bed._

As soon as she stepped in, her father stood from his seat in the living room. Naomi hovered behind him as he approached her with a deliberation that made her look at him, weirdly.

"Arashi, welcome home." His tone was soft, but firm. She had heard him use that voice on his patients countless times. "How did your mission go?"

_Oh geez. Did Naruto do something and I'm about to get another speech about guarding my reputation and choosing who I associate with carefully, and blah blah blah._

She avoided looking at him.

"Dad, you sound like you're still at work." She scolded him and slid her boots off by the door. "And the mission? It's over. I don't really want to talk about it."

She slipped by him and ran up the stairs to her room. If they had another lecture for her, it would have to wait until she was clean.

Before she could shut the door all the way, Ookami stopped it with his hand and pushed it open, "Arashi, we need to talk."

Her father never acted like this.

She took a step back and her eyebrows knit together in concern, "What's wrong?"

He hesitated. She searched his face for an answer – a hint as to what this was about – but she found only more questions. Arashi knew her father well. Every line around his mouth made her remember his smiles, the creases of his forehead testified to the years he spent worrying over others, the set of his mouth spoke of his determination, and the glint of his eyes reminded her of all the times he would beam at her in pride because of her accomplishments and the bond they shared. He was her hero and from a young age she had modeled herself after him.

She knew, without a doubt something was very wrong.

Arashi glanced behind him at her mother. Naomi caught her gaze and looked away, her eyes filling with tears.

"Dad?" Her voice cracked. "What is it?"

"While you were away, something happened. Late one night, the Uchiha clan was wiped out."

"What?"

The words did not register at first. She blinked and swallowed, thickly. There was no way that they were all dead.

"What are you talking about?" She shook her head. "There's impossible."

Ookami held his ground and watched her.

"You're serious." She whispered.

Arashi stopped focusing on the signatures of only those around her and stretched her senses outward. She searched for the familiar flames of their chakra, but found only one in the village – Sasuke.

She covered her mouth with a hand, feeling nauseous. "Wh-who's left? How many were on missions? Who did this?" The questions leaped from her mouth in quick secessions, grasping for any strand of hope. "Where's Itachi?"

"Itachi was the one behind the massacre. He waited until all of his clansmen were home from their missions and killed them as they settled in for the night. He ran from the village once he was done and ANBU has been unable to find him."

She almost laughed – _almost._

"You're lying. It was someone else – it had to be."

"Sasuke caught Itachi in the act." Ookami replied. "And he was sighted leaving the village."

"Then why is Sasuke still alive? Why didn't he kill him, too?" She snapped. "Itachi wouldn't have done this!"

Naomi spoke from behind Ookami, "Arashi, baby, we're not lying to you –"

"Leave me alone!" Arashi shrieked.

She slammed the door in their faces before they could say anything else. The muffled sounds of her mother's protests were lost on the girl. She was blinded by shock and denial. She pushed her bookcase in front of the door. She knew her mother would try to get in, otherwise. It left deep scratches across her floor, but she did not care. She could not handle their words or their presence.

No matter how much she wished they were just pulling a prank on her, she knew her parents would never do that. They were serious.

She knew they were not lying to her, but she still could not believe it. He would never have killed his own family. The boy she grew up with lived and breathed for his clan.

She searched her room, lost as she grasped for some sort of explanation. This had to be some sort of illusion or something – except she had never noticed anyone pushing their chakra onto hers in order to override her senses. As terrifying as the genjutsu she was placed under by the Kiri shinobi, she would have experienced it ten times over if it meant she could have avoided living through the shock that was tearing her apart at that moment.

Arashi began to shake.

She did not know why, but she needed to see that they were gone and that the compound was empty. Even if her sensory skills told her that they were gone, she needed the proof.

With one last glance at her barricaded door, she walked over to her window and climbed out. Her parents would eventually figure out that she was gone, but that was irrelevant to her. She had to do this.

It felt strange to run through the streets, barefoot. Not even as a child had she done that. The rain drops were cold as they pelted against her skin and already soaked clothing. She was not sure when it began, but her teeth were chattering from the chill. Time seemed to stand still.

People shot strange looks at her as she ran by, but she paid no attention to them.

* * *

The Uchiha compound had always housed shinobi for as long as she remembered and their signatures were among her favorites in the village. In retrospect, it was probably because she imagined them as being the flames that danced behind the leaves as a child when she was bored and then her friendship with Itachi had endeared them to her much more intimately.

She slipped inside and looked around at the emptiness of the place. Tears slid down her cheeks to mingle with the rain.

To find no sparks of life in that place was like waking up to find that she was no longer able to touch – or see – or hear – like she had lost a part of her.

She walked down a street and stared, wide eyed at Uruchi's bakery. It was now deserted. She could not count how many times she had visited with Itachi to get a snack.

Now there was a large blood stain in front of the building.

She pulled her eyes away from the scene and continued to walk. Everywhere that she looked, she saw signs of struggles. Broken windows, indentions from kunai and shuriken, blood stains, and even structural damage to some of the buildings – possibly from various jutsu. They might have been caught off guard, but the clan fought back.

Arashi did not want to think about it or imagine it, but the question as to how Itachi would have managed to take them all out, without help, would not leave her alone. These people were skilled. They were the revered and feared Uchiha clan – how was it possible for a thirteen year old boy to take them out?

The echoes of violence in that place were haunting. Bits and pieces of the memories she shared with Itachi flickered through her mind. They clashed with the reality around her.

She had loved his kindness and how gentle he was. She had loved his sense of responsibility, his talent, his mind, and the friendship he shared with her. This did not match up with the boy she knew.

Arashi grit her teeth and continued to walk through the compound, knowing that no one was there.

All of the compromises that bothered her – he had been through more. Her first brush with death was enough to shake the foundation of her world and the beliefs she held about being a shinobi. How young was he when he first took a life? How many dangerous and cold missions had he been on that it stole the gentleness from him and changed him into the murderer of his own clan?

What had the life of a shinobi stolen from him that it pushed him to this madness?

As she looked around, the more she knew that it was premeditated. This massacre was not on a whim, but something that had taken careful planning.

Anger spiked through her.

Fugaku pushed him and pushed him until he hardly had a life of his own. From the time Itachi was a small child, he was ingrained and molded to be what his father wanted, to be what his clan wanted – without once asking him what he wanted. While other children were allowed to dream and chase after their desires, he had been denied for the agendas of his clan.

Had Fugaku even realized what he was doing to his son?

It was because of his desires that Itachi joined ANBU. Even grown men were affected badly by that organization and their dealings. What business did a preteen boy have in the Black Ops? Why would any man wish such a cold, ruthless existence on his child? He had been pushed too far.

Arashi rubbed the tears from her cheeks, furiously.

What could she have done to help him? She knew he was in pain. She knew that something was wrong—that something was wrong with his entire clan. What could she have said – which words could she have conjured up, differently, that would have changed the course of his life? If she had done one thing differently, would it have changed this outcome?

How could Itachi keep all of this hidden from her until he killed his family and ran? Why?

Arashi was angry with Fugaku, and ANBU, but she _hated_ herself. She hated herself for everything that she could have done. She failed him as a friend.

The kunoichi tried to take a deep breath to steady herself, but it manifested as a choked sob.

Did the Uchiha know something about Itachi that no one else did? Had he actually killed Shisui?

She wanted to believe otherwise. She wanted to wrap herself in the warmth of his signature and forget that this ever happened.

Arashi turned and began to walk to her friend's home. Her feet felt like lead as she struggled to lift them and move forward. Even when the darkness became apparent in the clan, she still enjoyed visiting Itachi and teasing Sasuke there. This was like a home away from home for her, tension or not. No matter how much the Police Force hounded her and harassed her family, she never wished death on them.

The kunoichi wanted to be with Itachi. She wanted to make a place for herself within the clan and to bridge the distance between the Uchiha and Konoha. It manifested itself as her dream.

She bit down on her lip and tried to keep her breathing even.

If he had chosen to kill his entire family, why had he not killed his brother? Out of everyone in the village, she believed he cared the most for the young boy, but what was the difference between Sasuke and his mother?

She simply did not understand why this had happened.

Arashi wanted to chase after him – hungry, freezing, and exhausted – until she found him. She wanted to throw her arms around Itachi and drag him back. She wanted to help him and make everything better.

The rain that had once rejuvenated her in the Forest of Death did nothing to help her. She felt dirty and lost – it could not wash away the pain, just as it had failed to wash away the blood that stained the streets.

She entered his home and found the stained floor where she assumed Mikoto and Fugaku met their deaths. The breath hitched in her throat.

There was no coming back for Itachi.

The shock that acted as a buffer between her and reality gave away. The levity of the situation hit so hard that it knocked the breath from her and threw her to her knees. She sobbed as her tears dropped on the floor and her cries echoed from the walls.

Her heart broke for her friend and for the entirety of the clan.

Itachi might still be alive, but the friendship they had built together passed away the night this happened. She could never bring him back; they could never enjoy another meal together – could never sit and catch up again. He knew that he was going to do this the last time he visited her. It had been his good-bye to her.

It was like he had died with his clan.

The boy she loved was gone.

She would have given anything to make this right. The dream she entertained of earning her place within the Uchiha – earning a place within Itachi's heart – was now impossible.

At the age of fourteen, her dream died.

**The End**

* * *

Well, this is finally it. The end of part 2. I intend to post one more "chapter" to give a sneak peek into the first part of Chapter 1 or Part 3 soon.

Thank you all for reading, following, favoring, and reviewing this fanfiction! I appreciate it all so much. If you have any opinions, any criticisms, or any suggestions – please share them in a review.

Let me know what you all think of Arashi's progress from chapter 1 of part 1 to now! :D

* * *

**Windschatten**: Thank you so much! I worried that the tactics in the combat were silly and that they didn't make logical sense. For Team Morino, I didn't take a lot of time plotting out their abilities to make them cohesive, but through the story they've grown into something that clicks together very well.

Gai never struck me as the type of shinobi that was so desensitized to the point that things would not bother him. Instead of being cold, he is warm. :) I wanted to sort of show that.

I intend to follow up with those ANBU from Kirigakure and eventually tie in with a few things there, but that will be a bit later.

And this is it. The finale. I hope that it did not fall short.

Thank you for all of your reviews and all of your support!

**534667lc**: lol I found that part a bit amusing. I wrote it as a joke between myself and a friend of mine.

Thank you for the review and I hope you like this chapter!

**jazzie1019**: Thank you for the review! :) I find Gai to be quite lovely, even if he's eccentric.

**Misora Asuka**: I'm glad that you've enjoyed how I portrayed Gai. I was actually a little afraid of writing him, initially. :D

Her fuinjutsu will definitely continue to develop. I never intended to leave it just at the Fuin Shugotenshi and this experience will end up pushing her to design more and delve deeper into different things with separate seals that lock together and work as a team.

I try really hard to keep Arashi a little more 'real' in how she thinks of things and deals with them. It's not always pretty and it can get a little sloppy or immature with her, but she tries and it's gradually maturing her into a real shinobi, I think. :D I'm happy you liked how she dealt with the child.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, as well! Thank you very much for your reviews!


	32. Sneak Peek!

**Sneak Peek!**

* * *

I'm not going to say when this happens in Part 3, but it's definitely a scene that is going to be featured.

* * *

_Arashi could not say what form of madness took her after the massacre. With a driving fury, she dug through every report on the incident that she could get her hands on. As always, her connection to Ibiki made a little more available for her, but she found no answers to her questions._

_ One night, her dearest friend single handedly murdered his entire clan and then escaped the Village before anyone knew what happened._

_ Nothing she was able to find contradicted that report. There was no evidence that suggested anything else happened that night._

_ The more she vexed herself about it, the more she tore herself apart at the seams. The issues she had with the shinobi lifestyle with all of its traditions were no longer the melancholic thoughts of a child growing up too fast. They stole her sleep, her appetite, and her peace. Not only had she been groomed into a weapon from a young child – an innocent creature that never wanted to do harm – she watched as her brother followed the same path. Her eyes were opened to the truth – they were all caught in a never ending cycle of violence. Each Land was pitted against the other, every person was a pawn, and the minds of the most promising children were the ones that the elders warped the most._

_ She grew to hate it._

_ Arashi should have given up on Itachi. She had a family, a career, and friends – even if they were dysfunctional. She should have written him off as a madman and went on with her life – but she could not._

_ "It is unwise to be so lost in thought."_

_ She blinked, "I know, Itachi. Just thinking."_

_ "Of your family?"_

_ "Every day," she admitted. "But I couldn't abandon you."_

_ "You are foolish."_

_ He was no longer the warm person she knew – but sometimes, whether it was a trick of her mind or not, she would catch a glimpse of the person he used to be._

_ "I know."_

_ He turned away from her and continued walking through a crowded street. They were far from Konoha, but they still had to keep a watchful eye. Being in the Bingo Book made them highly sought after – Itachi far more than Arashi._

_ She shrugged and followed after the Uchiha._

_ Ultimately, she was selfish when it came to him._

* * *

That's it for the sneak peek into Part 3! It will be about two or three weeks before I start posting the next part, in order to give myself a break and to write a few chapters so I'll have several to post close together... **and now I'm back to admit that I gave in amd posted the first chapter early. xD**

Until then… speculate!

Tell me what you'd like to see happen or what you suspect will happen.

What were your favorite scenes in Part 2 and what do you think were some of the most defining moments for Arashi?

What did you think of Akio, Daisuke, and Ibiki?

What do you think of Kazika, Ookami, and Naomi? What is your opinion of Arashi having a stable home life, instead of a tragic backstory?

What do you think of Sukai as a summon and his attitude?

What is your opinion on Itachi's friendship with Arashi? Did he or did he not return her feelings, even if he didn't state a clear yes or no?

Are you guys excited to see more Kakashi in Part 3? :D I am.

Also, for Part 3, every 50th review can request a one-shot written by me – as long as I'm familiar with the canon they're requesting. It will end up being longer than Part 2, so if you continue to follow, then you're in for a long running. :D It spans from the Pre-Shippuden canon and somewhat into the time skip. Part 4 will take place during Shippuden.

Thank you all for your support! It is greatly appreciated!

* * *

**osnapitzlivia**: Oh snap! Haha

You've made my day. I woke up to discover your trail of reviews as you read through this fanfiction and I wanted to say thank you. :) I very much appreciate the time you put into reading all of it in one day. It's quite a bit to dig through like that! You've also pushed the review count over 100 – which I mentioned in an earlier chapter would earn the 100th review a one-shot written by me. If you'd like to take me up on that offer, then shoot me a private message and we'll talk about the details. :)

I'm glad that you've enjoyed the story and Arashi's progression into be a real shinobi and not just a child.

I hope that you continue following the series – Part 3 is on the way! (Kakashi!)

**jazzie1019**: Ahh, yes. :( Arashi will have a tough time with this, but every adversity leads to more development and it all leads to change in some form or fashion.

Thank you for your review and I hope you continue to follow this series!

**Castielshumanheart**: I loved this review – thank you!

I sometimes worried that I was including too much foreshadowing concerning the looming massacre, but I figured people knew it was coming and that it was inevitable, anyway. :) I'm glad that the buildup gave way to the emotions I hoped would be there.

With the canon, I felt that a lot of the things they focused on weren't really all that dark, especially in Pre-Shippuden. It really isn't all good times, heroics, and adventure – as you pointed out. I wish they would've shown more of that in canon, but since they didn't I thought I'd include it in this fanfiction. I thought I'd write it from Arashi's point of view in order to show a different perspective, so I guess it all pans out.

Logically, I figured anyone would question the situation if they came home to find out their dearest friend went crazy and killed his whole family out of nowhere. I won't really go into detail about how much she's going to look into it or how it's going to affect her, so that the story can mention it or paint the picture later. I'll just say that the massacre was a very well put together "inside job" and there isn't much to find. Beyond that, Itachi was clever in his timing for more than just one or two reasons. :)

Thank you for this review and I hope you continue to follow and enjoy this story!

**Oxford Brielle**: Ahh, thank you!

It started as drabbles and gradually grew into something with a little depth to it. xD This has definitely been a learning experience for me and it was fun to take a little girl and have her grow into what Arashi is right now (I'm also going to make a friend start looking over my chapters before I post them, just in case I'm being an idiot with those typos).

I can't say how glad I am that you experienced such a broad spectrum of emotions while reading this story. Thank you. :)

Part 3 is well on its way (chapter 1 is almost complete). I hope that you continue to enjoy this monster of a fanfiction series that I'm drowning in. xD


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